Warlock's Throne
by Squirrel of Shadow
Summary: When a Prophecy places her son at risk, Lily Potter nee Evans is not going to just rely on Dumbledore's word but sets her own plan in motion. She was not called the smartest witch of her generation without a reason. With her changes, future remains clouded, and the only time will tell, for Prophecies are for Fools. AU, Non-Horcrux Harry, Powerful!Harry, Lily Lives, Alternate School
1. Chapter 1: Prophecy Denied

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 1: Prophecy Denied**

It was a chilly evening at the end of October, and Halloween was upon the people once more. While the mundane people celebrated in a variety of ways, the real witches and wizards cowered in their homes while hoping to not see any black-cloaked strangers approaching their doorstep. The death-eaters were terrorizing the lands and only a few people dared to fight back to begin with, and then they were further hampered in their efforts by a sudden revelation of a prophecy about the one to defeat Voldemort emerging.

Lily Potter nee Evans considered prophecies to be only good as warnings of possibilities. Having to step out of the war with her husband to care for her son was certainly not a bad thing in some ways, but it also left her feeling isolated and alone. It made her feel worry what might happen if Voldemort came after them, and all the promises that the headmaster Dumbledore tried to offer meant nothing to her. The man had dropped the ball too many times in her opinion, and the refusal to accept that the death-eaters were beyond redemption was a bitter conflict between her and Dumbledore, one where her only ally seemed to be Alastor Moody, even her husband seemed to believe Dumbledore's word that they shouldn't become as bad as death-eaters were.

It infuriated and that chilly evening she felt it was about to become their death. She had her reasons to distrust divination, having a minor talent in it but not a full blown oracle's talent. James and the others did not know, but she had seen glimpses of things in the past, some of which came true, some of which never did. Fate was only an excuse for the weak-willed, and there was no future but one they made for themselves. She had picked this up early on, and believed in a heartfelt manner.

When Sirius suggested they change their secret keeper to Peter Pettigrew, Lily Potter smelled a rat. She had a brief vision of her own death before Harry's crib right after Sirius had brought the suggestion up, and James had accepted the offer without consulting her. So now they were waiting for death, but she wasn't going to let the death claim herself. Her husband refused to believe that Albus Dumbledore would have left them in a trap waiting for the enemy, and her husband also refused to believe that Sirius' behavior was strange when he showed up, almost as if he was Imperioused.

It fell down to Lily to make the preparations, and she knew she would only be able to use them in a limited area. So she had set out to prepare for the coming of the dark lord, and intent to prove the prophecy yet another false. The Ministry housed hundreds of prophecies, of which more than nine tenths had failed to ever come to be, but the ministry kept housing them in the belief they were just talking about something that would come later in time rather than meaning the events that had transpired close to their making, but different enough to invalidate them as false prophecies.

So that evening when she heard the crash from downstairs and James' shouting, she felt the wards snapped around them holding them securely in place like rats. Peter had betrayed them, and her vision felt dangerously close to becoming reality. Yet Lily Potter planned to stand at the threshold and defy the fates once more. She had proven them false time and time again, so she moved ahead, her wand in the sleeve of her shirt, the preparations complete.

The door was slammed open and Voldemort stood there, facing Lily and holding up his wand at her. "Get out of the way!" He snarled, the lizard-like, twisted and mutilated face inspiring only loathing and fear in people. Voldemort had destroyed his own body through a number of rituals to enhance his power, and to further strengthen the horror he could created with his mere presence. Lily wasn't intimidated though, she thought the man was pathetic and wasn't shy about showing it either.

"No. _Activate._" The shocked look on the dark wizard's face was worth the effort, as the portkey carpet beneath the man snapped through the anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards. Lily and James could not have escaped, they were not keyed on those death-eater wards. Voldemort, however, was keyed into them and even if it wasn't a portkey the dark lord made himself, they did not deny him exit. So as the portkey activated those wards meant to trap the Potters in parted to let their master out, before vanishing a moment later as the dark lord's death broke his magic.

"Nobody can say I don't give even an unpleasant guest a warm welcome now." She smirked slightly, thinking back at the vacation that she and James took in Sicily shortly after getting married. It was a short one, but she was impressed by the sight of Stromboli, the volcano on the small island in the Tyrrhenian sea. She had been a fan of Tolkien's writing, and sending the Dark Lord to Rule them All to his demise through a portkey and a volcano seemed only fitting to her.

"We're going to have to leave now though. I am sorry Harry, but dad wasn't willing to listen to reason, and there was no time to get him to safety too." She lifted her young son silently from his crib, a sad look upon her face. Her relationship with James Potter hadn't been the storybook ending to a teenage romance, but she had cared for him and he had loved her, but his inability to see reason past Dumbledore's claims had soured their relationship on some levels. She would mourn him, but his death did not crush her as she had feared it might. The possibility of death at Voldemort's wand had always been there, and she had prepared to deal with the sorrow. It would still hurt greatly, but there were things that she needed to get done.

Gathering what meager possessions of note there was around the place, Lily held her son tightly while activating the second portkey on her own person, vanishing from the nursery room leaving it empty, abandoning the house still hidden under the Fidelius charm but with its door kicked open and no longer secure.

==== Prophecy Denied ====

Albus Dumbledore looked at his spy laying on the bed with some concern. Severus had arrived with his emergency portkey, pale as a sheet and with beads of sweat coating his handsome face. Albus Dumbledore wasn't sure what could have rattled Severus up like that, the dark haired potions master had held stoic even through the worst of odds before. He had returned tormented by the dark lord's own torture curses, and still looked better than he had this time around.

"Well, Severus, do you feel well enough to tell me what happened?" Albus spoke in a grandfatherly, concerned tone of voice, but smiling in a friendly manner to reassure the man that everything would turn out well. Hogwarts was the safest place in the British Wizarding World after all, and would even stand up to the dark lord. Although he hoped quietly it would not come to that, the children would be at risk if it did.

"The Dark Lord set out alone to carry out a mission of great importance. He said to prepare for celebration on his return, but several minutes after he left a crippling pain struck everyone at the dark lord's hideout. The dark mark twisted and pulled, and it was like my body was on fire for several seconds before finally the mark began to fade. It is not entirely gone, but half of what it used to be." Severus raised his arm, his skin pale and clammy from the torment he had been going through, but the serpent and skull symbol on his arm seemed to have become a fair bit less prominent than it had been just a day ago.

"Curious." Albus nod his head slightly but frowned faintly. "Please rest as long as you need to, I will have to check what has happened, but I believe seeing the mark fade is a good sign. Perhaps we are free of him, perhaps we are not, but seeing the dark mark weakened gives me hope the dark days are ending."

As Albus Dumbledore walked out of the infirmary he left a pensive spy behind, but Albus Dumbledore had to move quickly if things had happened the way he expected. With James and Lily dead, young Harry would be in need of a new guardian. The will that James had made named Lily and Harry as the heirs of the Potter fortune, and with Lily dead it would all fall into Harry's hands.

Meaning that if Albus Dumbledore took Harry in under his wing then the Potter fortune could be put to use in the service of greater good. Unfortunately there was a section on the will about Sirius Black, but sealing the will would solve that issue, and Sirius had been the obvious pick for their secret keeper, so if he mouthed off he would vanish faster than he could say 'Quidditch'.

Heading outside, he knocked on the door to the ground's keeper's hut and waited for a moment. The door was pushed open by a large, calloused hand of a small giant of a man. Hagrid was one of Dumbledore's loyal followers, and the perfect man for the job he had in mind. "Aah, good evening professor. Didn'a expect to have company. D' ya wan't to come in?" He moved a bit out of the large doorway, but his large body still blocked more than half the doorway.

"Thank you, but I cannot, not right now. Hagrid, you know how James and Lily had to go into hiding after Voldemort began to hunt for them, do you not?" His voice serious though gentle, he saw the large man sniff and rub his eyes. "Aye, I heard it was 'cause they had you-know-who trying to off them, for showing him up again an' again."

"I have reasons to believe that their precautions may have failed them tonight. I have a port-key here I made for the street their house is on. I need you to drop by and see if they are alright, or if something has happened. If something has befallen James and Lily, I want you to get young Harry and keep him safe. I will meet you in Little Whinging, in Surrey. Just head for Privet Street there."

Hagrid looked saddened by the news that James and Lily might be dead but accepted the old sock that Dumbledore was offering, vanishing from the grounds. Dumbledore let out a short sigh and closed the door to the hut before one of Hagrid's pets decided to wander off onto the grounds. Hagrid was a good lad at heart but a little too stubborn about the cute beasts he saw several monstrous creatures as. Well ,perhaps for a half-giant they were kind of cute since Hagrid was tough enough they weren't a real threat to him, but Albus certainly didn't want to see them run amok at his school.

==== Prophecy Denied ====

Peter Pettigrew didn't know how things could have gone so badly wrong in such a short period of time. He had been spying on Dumbledore and his sycophants for a good while, revealing their plans to the dark lord and trying to supply enough information to be important. He was never a really talented wizard, he was never a popular person, and he was never the one that the witches wanted. The promises of power and respect, or at least fear and submission had fuelled his greed and lead him to willingly take the dark mark.

That decision had now come to haunt him as he still felt like his arm was on fire, whimpering with tears in his eyes as he sought to make his escape along the streets. He had received his greatest chance to please the dark lord when he received the surprise offer to become the Potters secret keeper, and after revealing it to the dark lord he believed he was set. Instead, he had narrowly avoided having his bollocks hexed off by an irate Bellatrix who was screaming about the way their marks had reacted.

In fact, had Pettigrew not had the common sense to immediately apparate away he might have been at the business end of her wand, and she enjoyed those pain curses she cast far too much for him to wait and see which one she'd put him under. That meant going back to the death eaters was out at least until the dark lord returned. This was not how he envisioned his evening ending, not at all.

"Peter, you foul rat!" Peter had time to hear the shout and turn to face an enraged Sirius Black, before he had to quickly duck his head to avoid being stunned then and there. Damn it all, how had Black tracked him down? Oh right, he had needed to stop by his apartment to retrieve his emergency funds and felt too tired to apparate again, at least until he recovered a little. He didn't want to splinch himself after all.

Yet the furious visage of Black told him that his options were to risk it and maybe lose a leg, stay and try to convince Sirius it wasn't him (and he wasn't sure if the hot-head would listen) or perhaps he could use the bit of cunning he had learned over the years. After all, peeking on girls was easier if you could shift the blame to Sirius who could be expected to do such a thing anyway.

"How could you Sirius, James and Lily are DEAD because of you!" Behind his back, Peter sent a blasting curse to the street, kicking up dirt and stones into the air to try and mask his swift transmutation to his animagus shape, a snap-like cutting charm severing one of his fingers to give 'evidence' he had died there. Before he could slip away though the blast's heat ignited a gas-line beneath the street he had blasted and the smoldering sparks met with flammable gas.

The resulting explosion threw Black back a fair bit of way, and sent Peter's scorched rat arse into the air. The landing was painful and he felt like his whole body was scorched, but the fur had at least isolated it somewhat. Looking ragged and haggard, he slipped away in his present shape.

Meanwhile, the nearby Aurors rushed in to investigate, finding a smoldering crater at the street, several dead or injured muggles about, and one dazed Sirius Black laying there, his wand snapped and partially scorched, the man's outfit seeming to be smoldering as well. An overblown blasting charm, they figured, and seeing as he appeared to be the only wizard present, Sirius Black was slapped into magical restraints before he could even voice a protest.

A quick interrogation of the nearby muggles revealed the earlier conversation, before a bit of obliviations was performed and the muggle emergency services left to deal with the 'unfortunate gas leak resulting in explosion' that the ministry was going to claim it was. It was during that time that one of the junior aurors found the smoldering finger that had once belonged to Peter Pettigrew. The goblins would test it so they could be certain, but it seemed that Sirius Black had not only betrayed the Potters but decided to kill one of his former schoolmates as well.

Before the night was done, Sirius had already been shipped off to Azkaban, silently whimpering how sorry he was and that it was all his fault. Bartemius Crouch's and Albus Dumbledore's signature on the order to incarcerate Black for life had barely had its ink dry before it had been carried out.

==== Prophecy Denied ====

Gringotts was relatively quiet, with the threat of death eater raids looming over people. Only a handful of people were there to talk with the tellers, so few paid any attention to a red-haired woman making her way towards the head-teller, and those who did averted their gaze soon after. Just a mother with her child in her arms.

"Excuse me, I would like to talk with my account manager Sharpblade if he has a moment of time. Should I wait or is he unable to meet with me anytime soon?" Lily believed in politeness, and the goblins were bankers. They didn't need groveling nor a lot of casual conversation, but they were treated rather poorly by most purebloods which soured their opinion of witches and wizards. So treating one politely without overdoing it tended to get a bit better reaction.

Looking up at her the head teller briefly asked for the key, and examined it a moment before handing it back. Nodding slightly, he gestured for her to follow along, leading her to a hallway towards the managers offices. Staying silent for that time, the head teller stopped in a comfortable waiting room and spoke seriously. "I'll see if Sharpblade has time, please wait here."

Most wizards demanded to be taken to their account manager immediately, regardless of what they might be doing. Lily had avoided doing that, and had gotten James to usually avoid doing that as well, and there had be a lot less service charges on their accounts. That didn't mean the goblins were their friends and allies, they were just better clients because they didn't act like a spoiled brat with the people that handled their finances.

Of course, the fact was that Lily had shown some keen insight in investing that James had considered funny but hardly mattering with the amount of money the Potter accounts already contained. The goblins had seen the fact she had managed to increase the amount of money on her personal account a fair bit where as the Potter vault had only gained interest on their old investments which were not paying as well as they used to. Of course, the Potter vaults had a lot more money in them and their investments were extensive, but they were left as they were ever since James's grandfather stopped his investing.

"Ms. Potter? Sharpblade will see you now." The goblin that approached him was not the head teller but a younger one. Lily nod her head and politely followed after, having been waiting less than five minutes and already getting to see the account manager was quick service compared to some places, yet the witches and wizards would be infuriated to have to wait. Perhaps being muggle-born and used to having services take a little bit of time had its advantages.

As Lily was shown into the account manager's office she saw the large shield on the wall with two crossed goblin warblades behind it. Their account manager might be a banker, but he was also a capable warrior as was most of the goblin race. Showing a measure of respect but also making sure they held respect for her in turn made things a lot easier in her experience. "Manager Sharpblade." She nod her head lightly. "Ms. Potter." The manager nod his head in turn, a pile of paperwork laid down a bit aside on a side table.

"Earlier today, Voldemort attacked my husband and killed him. He no doubt planned to kill me as well, but fell to one of my contingency plans. Portkey and a volcano." Her expression remained calm but she saw a moment of amusement and delight on the goblin's face. "That sounds like a tale worth recounting later. Would you be willing to subject that memory for examination via pensieve?" As soon as he had asked, she drew the wand to her temple, pulling out a copy of the memory. Offering a small vial for the memory quickly, the goblin waited for her to place the memory into the vial and add a stopper to it before nodding.

"Thank you. Now, on the matter of James Potter's passing, Gringotts does hold the original will, but the circumstances in it detail the plans in case both you and James were dead. His personal instructions in case he perished while you and Harry survived were simple and clear. You assume regency of House Potter until the heir, Harry, is twenty-one and ready to assume his seat. You hold the Potter seat in Wizengamot as the proxy, or you can name another for that position if you wish."

Lily already knew this and nod her head slightly, knowing that the goblin laws demanded that Sharpblade explain this to her even knowing she already knew. It was a matter of legalities and she did not want any of the old families try and argue about it later on, so this session was necessary for that reason alone. Of course, having delivered a copy of the memory to the goblins was an insurance in its own manner. If someone else questioned events that had taken place, the goblins could show their copy and nobody questioned a goblin-verified memory. Even Pureblood lawyers had to begrudgingly admit that the goblin authentication trumped theirs.

"Normally the Potter family regent or guardian cannot sell any of the property, nor cancel long-standing investments, or even access the main financial vaults. They are allowed access to a vault where the interest and income from various investments is deposited, which is the primary Potter money vault, but the actual Heritage vault and the Ancient vault remain sealed from them. However, James Charlus Potter granted you full control of those assets, stating a reason that 'should situation get even worse, I want my family to be able to leave Britain and retain their wealth'."

While James had been reluctant to even consider it Lily had spoken about the possibility of leaving Britain, going to America, Australia, or somewhere else that was suitably far from Britain. She had also considered abandoning the name Potter and taking up residence somewhere else in Europe. France, Germany, Italy, she could learn a new language fairly fast without magic, and with magic it would be ridiculously easy to accomplish. While James was not willing to 'do a runner' like that, he had agreed that if he died and Lily felt the situation required it, she should be able to leave with Harry. For that reason, James had opened the Potter accounts to her so.

Even if Dumbledore had marched in the bank with paperwork naming him as Harry's Guardian and demanded access to the vaults he could not have touched anything else than a regent could have, because the Potter family was one of the most Ancient and Nobles, and they had guarded their position zealously in the past. They had some former House Black members in their lineage too and that paranoia had carried through for a few generations in the past, leading to such binding contracts as well as even bindings on the Head of House to avoid any one poor Head from ruining the family entirely.

Of course, regents and guardians were also expressly forbidden from trying to negotiate marriage contracts on the family heirs, because such matters could only be decided by a Head of House and were never permitted to be under someone else's control. Such acts had caused the loss of some of the original twelve families that helped form the Wizengamot, and the ones that remained had taken the lesson to heart.

"While controversial in going against the traditional Potter manners, the reason was deemed valid given the state of affairs and being the last surviving line of the House. Gringotts has recognized you as the Regent Majora of House Potter, and the Guardian of Heir Potter until he reaches the age of twenty one, or seventeen should you consider him ready to assume his role at that age." The goblin finished with a serious expression, while Lily nod her head slightly.

"While Voldemort may have met his end by portkey, there are still many that believe the pureblood tripe he was spewing about that would seek to harm Harry and me here in Britain. I am also reluctant to trust my child's safety to Dumbledore who remains the headmaster of Hogwarts and was unable to protect us from harm previously as well. I am planning to move away from Britain and would like to transfer the Potter fortune with me. It shall remain in Gringotts, for our trust in the bank has not been shaken, but we need it moved to another branch at our destination country."

Sharpblade nod his head slightly. He could transfer alongside the accounts, he had a few accounts to watch over but none as big as the Potter accounts, and bringing in a sum like that to another branch would see him welcomed openly there and likely to attract some good contracts with new families over time, or gaining contracts from older families who's manager might pass away. The fact the money stayed in Gringotts even if it was moved between branches made him quite agreeable.

"As for the Potter properties, I would like to place them under heavy wards for now as they are not in use. The House at Godric's Hollow should be sold, there's too much painful memories involved with it now. I have taken care of my husband's funeral arrangements prior to my arrival here, as well as had our family house elf pack everything of personal importance with us to a trunk."

Again, she was met with a nod from a thoughtful goblin who smiled slightly, seemingly pleased. "You have prepared well, and though I imagine the weight of your loss on your shoulders may be felt you carry yourself with pride and dignity. You have my respect Ms. Potter, and I will make sure your requests will be carried out to your specifications as quickly as possible. Now, Gringotts has branches in a number of countries, but where exactly where you hoping to leave?"

Lily Potter drew a long breath as she thought back at her original plans, the many destinations she had considered, and the eventual decision. She had hoped that Dumbledore and James were right, that they were safe. She had hoped that Sirius was right about changing to a new secret keeper that others wouldn't guess so easily. She had hoped that the little strangeness in Pettigrew's behavior back then was nothing of concern. She had hoped everything would turn out alright.

Reality wasn't that nice, and she had hoped for the best while preparing for the worst. Dumbledore was making too many mistakes and James had unfortunately come to see the old man as infallible, as had many other purebloods. Lily had been raised by muggles who had seen the harm a single man could do from a position of power, and thus she had prepared. She had been hesitant about switching from Sirius but he made a good case about it, and they seemed hard-pressed to trust poor Lupin, given the rumors all werewolves were signing in with Voldemort at the time. Pettigrew still seemed like a really bad option.

Personally she thought she should have held the secret to where the Longbottoms were hiding as well as having Alice hold the secret where the Potters were hiding. Though the secret keeper was not supposed to remain under the same Fidelius too long, a weakness in the spell that prevented her from just being their own secret keeper as she has originally hoped to be, she had seen no harm in two different groups holding one another's secret safe.

Dumbledore had not let her get her way, stating it would only take one careless mistake from one family to ruin them both, one unfortunate mistake with someone under a death-eater imperius and everything would collapse to pieces. James had accepted it as wisdom while Lily had seen it as the old man wanting to dismiss an idea that didn't come from him originally. The old man seemed to think he had the answers to every question and nobody else could do the same. They were all just school children in his eyes, probably.

**End Chapter**

A/N: Alright, I've had real life interrupt my writing for a while, with a writer's block formed by recent events. I am getting over it, and starting with this.

For this story, I have no serious pairings in mind, though considering "Lunar Harmony" later on, or possibly an OC companion for Harry. I may entertain the notion of a Harem story at some point, but am not sure if I want that for this story.

I am writing a bit similar to Broken Wand, Broken Chains but I hope to expand the writing more than just having snippets from here and there in the story on this attempt. Still, I try and explore different angles to tell the story from and different characters to express their views.

Still, I am considering this to have tags for 'Another School', 'Powerful Harry' and 'Non-Horcrux Harry'.

Right now, I am considering Harry going to a) America, b) France, c) Italy, D) Germany, E) Australia. I even tossed in a few possibilities like F) Japan, G) Egypt, and H) South Africa. Plenty of places have a lot of potential, and some are more over-used than others, but not for a bad reason.

Not planning on doing a cross-over in this but not entirely opposed to some ideas there either for some story perhaps.


	2. Chapter 2: Plans and Precautions

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 2: Plans and Precautions**

Privet Drive was a place where houses were made from the same cookie cutter model, where individuality was strictly regulated by the neighborhood's gossips managing to paint anyone different in a very dark light usually. It was a place where the only immediate difference between houses was the state of their garden, and the number sign they each held. It was a place where anything unnatural or different from normal was frowned upon and gossiped upon for weeks.

If it hadn't been late at night when the old man in robes covered with the symbols of moons and stars moving quietly by themselves in the outfit, and wearing half-moon spectacles, he would have been the source of gossip for the next week at least. The fact he held a silver-colored lighter in the air and caused the streetlights to go off, one at a time, would have made that a month at least, and the shortly following transformation of a nearby feline that had been sitting on a wall into a stern looking woman would have made people doubt their own eyes and endangered the secrets of the Wizarding World.

Some might call it fortunate that Dumbledore arrived so late, but for anyone that knew the old grey-bearded man, it was apparent that Dumbledore had chosen the moment for a reason. "Ahh, Minerva. I must admit I had not expected to see you here this evening."

The stern woman looked at him in a scolding manner that would have made a naughty schoolboy bow his head down in shame, but it had little effect on the old man who simply chuckled good naturedly. "I've been watching this family the entire day after I heard what had happened at the Potters. Is it really true?"

Dumbledore nod, and she let out a heavy sigh while emotions warred within her. "So he is finally gone. It's too high of a price though. Poor James and Lily. What about their son, Harry, what will happen to him?" She looked at him, and saw Albus casting a look at the number four Privet Drive, causing her own eyes to widen.

"No, Albus, No. They are the worst sort of muggles! I saw the child kicking his own mother demanding sweets until she promised to get him some, and that's the least of my concerns about this family." Her protests fell on deaf ears as Dumbledore shook his head. "They are his only living relatives, and the boy needs to stay with them. In our world, he would be raised as a hero, someone constantly hounded for his fame and fortune. Here, he can have a real childhood before he has to step up to face his fame eventually."

Minerva frowned but held her tongue. She believed that some of Albus' decisions were hard to accept or even understand, but he was a great man, and she owed some respect to him. She still didn't like it. "Where is he though, I would have thought you would have taken care of him personally?" She asked, but Dumbledore shook his head slightly. "I had to take care of the immediate chaos after the news had broken out. I sent Hagrid to pick the boy up."

"Hagrid? You sent- By Merlin Albus, he is loyal to the light but are you really sure he's the best one for an important matter like this?" Her shock was evident, Hagrid wasn't known for his tact, and he was certainly not going to blend in, and without a wand any dark wizard he faced had a great advantage over the big man already. She didn't want to hear that poor Harry had been killed or that Hagrid had lost his life protecting the young lad either.

"I trust Hagrid, and I had to act quickly. The news were breaking out and i had to speak to the Wizengamot quickly. Already I heard that the Malfoys were making a motion of taking young Harry in under their roof, and if they had not been stopped they would have been holding regency on the Potter family the way Bagnold listens the side that makes most coin fall into a minister's retirement fund." Albus' frown was evident but Minerva wasn't pleased.

Just then they could hear a banging noise nearby, before the Knight Bus appeared nearby, and Hagrid's somewhat motion-sick figure stepped out of the bus looking hung over and staggering their way. Albus smiled at the time, thinking that seeing Harry and Hagrid would settle Minerva down. Besides, he wanted to see how the boy was.

"Evenin' professor McGonagall, Dumbledore sire." Hagrid nod his head respectfully while looking almost constipated, and nervous. It was the fact he was clenching his hands together, and didn't appear to be carrying a child with him, either in his arms or in one of those dreadful pouch-bandoliers he occasionally had on when going out in the woods.

"Hagrid, where is Lily's son?" Minerva asked, causing Albus to frown slightly too as he came to notice that little missing detail as well. What could have happened, he wondered to himself briefly. "Uhm, there was a bit o' problem there you see. When I got t'ere, the house door was blown open, an signs o' struggle plenty there. No bodies tho, so kept going to the nursery, saw the door blown apart and found big portkey traces but kinda faded, didn'a tell where they went. Place was trashed an abandoned, but didn't see Harry anywhere."

Albus wasn't a happy man about hearing those news, and Minerva looked like she was going to lecture him in a way that would make Molly Weasley look like a shy little first-year, and what was worse he had no idea what may have happened. He needed to get to Gringotts fast, he had railroaded the order to have the Potter will sealed during his day at the Wizengamot, to prevent the boy's safe location from being spread out to the public he claimed, but now that effort might be going to waste.

This would have been a lot easier if he had just insisted that James get him a vial of Harry's blood for the sake of making sure they would all be safe. He would have been able to track the boy down a lot easier then, and have him with his loving relatives in no time. It wouldn't do that anyone else raised Harry, oh no, Albus Dumbledore needed to make sure Harry would grow up with the Dursleys, away from magic and his fame, and away from the expectations his Lordship would place on his back. It was for the Greater Good.

==== Plans and Precautions ===

Given that Gringotts had already closed its doors for the night it was not until the next day that Albus Dumbledore marched into Gringotts carrying the official documentation naming him Harry Potter's magical guardian and proxy, in the absence of his mother and father. The will in the ministry had already been sealed, and the papers he carried would have it sealed in Gringotts as well. The documentation he had already had a scribe send late yesterday was an order to keep the will frozen until he came to speak with the senior account manager himself.

Besides, as the Potters guardian he would be able to request a new account manager and he knew the right goblin for the job, who would help make sure that Albus Dumbledore would have access to everything he needed. It was good to have friends and allies among different people, after all. Making his way towards the head teller, Albus cleared his throat while waiting for the old goblin to pay him attention. The goblin seemed to barely give him a glance while continuing his writing, making Dumbledore clear his throat again.

"You really should get that looked at, Wizard." The goblin commented in a deadpan manner, but then set his quill aside. "What can I do for you?" He asked in a polite manner though watching Albus like a hawk. Not that it was unusual, he was an important man after all, and Goblins knew to respect someone like him. "I am here in my capacity as the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and have documentation with me to seal the Potter will, as well as naming me the Potter heir's magical guardian and proxy. I assume everything is alright and proper?" He smiled while holding out the documentation to the goblin.

Taking the documents and casting them a look at the time, the goblin seemed to consider something seriously for a moment, before ringing a small bell that seemed to bring a younger goblin running to his side. "This is Mr. Dumbledore, and he is here with important documentation. He needs to be taken to see the Potter account manager." The goblin nod and headed off with the old wizard, leading him along while the head teller caught the faint smirk on the old wizard's face for just a brief moment.

Once they were gone, he set down 'at lunch' sign on his own window, hurrying off himself. Ragnok needed to be told about this, right away.

Albus Dumbledore smiled as he entered the account manager's office, but his smile froze as he saw a group of six goblins packing things into a magic trunk, with two armed goblin warriors standing nearby casting a glance at him as the goblin boy had lead him in the room. "Mr. Dumbledore has some documents of importance for the Potter account manager."

There was a short pause as one of the goblins knocked on a side room's door, before an older, more respectable goblin man walked out wearing a breastplate, carrying a sword at his both sides, and having a helmet under one arm. He cast a look at Dumbledore appraisingly before nodding.

"I am Sharpblade, you catch me at a bit of a bad time though Wizard, I am preparing for a ceremony and my office is being moved." He spoke seriously at the time but looked at Dumbledore who chuckled slightly. "Ahh, I assure you this should not take up too much time. I am here with the Wizengamot's official documentation that the Potter will be sealed, and identifying myself as the magical guardian of Harry James Potter, as well as the Potter proxy. I simply need your confirmation that everything is in order and I shall be out of your hair shortly." He smiled in a calm fashion, if the goblin man was retiring with fanfare then getting a new goblin in place would be a lot simpler. Things were looking up for Dumbledore.

"Let me see that." The goblin demanded, waiting to be handed the documentation and looking them over one by one. "This one is legit and stands." He said, handing the first one over to a nearby goblin who bowed. The Potter will designating who James and Lily named as Harry's guardians in the event neither of them lived through the war would be sealed, and that was half a victory for him already.

"This, however, is invalid and cannot be accepted." The goblin stated while holding the documentation naming Albus Dumbledore as guardian for Harry James Potter. He looked at the document with annoyance evident on his face, while Albus blinked in surprise at this turn of events. "What is wrong with it, I assure you it is from the Wizengamot's own scribe and perfectly legal, in the interest of the poor orphan boy's safety I have taken him under my own wing-"

"I am sorry, Mr. Dumbledore, but Gringotts cannot accept your claim of guardianship as we have already verified another in that position alongside Potter proxy." This in turn made Dumbledore turn pale. Someone had managed to cut in, and try and keep him from the boy? That wouldn't do, they obviously didn't know who they were messing with.

"Who has claimed that role?" Albus Dumbledore asked sharply, but the goblin smiled faintly in amusement. "I am afraid banking secrets are not privy even to Wizengamot, suffice to say the person has a superior claim to Heir Potter's guardianship, and Wizengamot cannot overrule it. The Goblin Nation has recognized the prior claim and the paperwork has already been sent forth. The current Guardian has named a proxy to present Potter interests in the Wizengamot due to being unable to attend personally. You will be notified along the rest of the Wizengamot in due time."

"I am afraid I must insist you share this information with me now, along with who has laid claim on Harry. As the Chief Warlock it is my duty-" He started, only to be silenced as the doors were pushed in by a group of armed goblin guards surrounding their leader, Ragnok, who cast a sharp look at Dumbledore.

"Mr. Dumbledore, I am going to have to ask you to leave. You are inquiring on a client who has requested their matters be kept private, and presented documentation that could be considered an attempt at usurping a role you have no prior claim to. These gentlemen will see you out, I would assume a man of your stature would rather walk out than be seen thrown out?"

==== Plans and Precautions ====

Lily drew a deep, long breath before letting it all out in a heavy, relieved sigh. Gringotts was overseeing the vault transfer and she had a decent amount of currency, both muggle and magical, to spend up until the transfer would be finished and all the final checks completed sometime next week. Goblins were meticulous with such large transfers, of course they were getting a nice service payment out of it but they prided themselves on being exact with their clients money, and she had earned some measure of respect from them, and hadn't been acting like a total jerk to them.

Looking around the house she considered the fact that James would have found it awfully muggle and small, but she saw no reason to spend money on some ten-bedroom mansion when it was just her and Harry living there. It was a beachside property, allowing her and Harry to enjoy the beach as he grew up, and hopefully stay out of sight of the witches and wizards for most part. Harry would learn magic from her until it was time for him to join one of the schools of magic.

Of course, by the time that came around, she hoped to have finished her studies on a topic she had initially considered a mere joke. There were many laws in the wizarding world that had her wanting to tear her hair out at times, though it was better in some countries than others. It was a joking saying that she heard from one of the half-bloods during her last year that stuck with her. 'If you don't like it, make your own country'.

It sounded like a muggle saying at the first half, then causing her to blink at the later half. It took a bit of searching, but eventually she did uncover the fact that there had been a lot of small wizard nations that started with a small island raised from the ocean floor and hidden under the right spells, they went unnoticed by the muggles. Most famous of them was Atlantis, although the mad king of that isle eventually doomed all the inhabitants of that isle by destroying the capstone to which many of the spells had been tied to, causing the isle to collapse and crumble to the ocean floor.

It took a lot of power to create a whole new island, and took a fair variety of spells to pull off. She imagined she would be able to learn all the necessary spells in a couple of years, but she was not certain she would have the necessary power. Worse, it could not be done by a gathering of people, it took one powerful witch or wizard to start the creation, because their vision of the place helped shape it.

Of course, the original method mentioned in the books caused her to scoff slightly. The method had the benefit of being able to shape the land exactly as one wanted from the start, but the reliance on a capstone that could be broken made it a dangerous option to consider, especially as the magical history appeared riddled with tragedies when a capstone was broken on such isles.

Going back to the thought of volcanoes and thinking about tropical isles, Lily Evans had a feeling she had a better way to pull this off in her mind, and she was willing to bet it would take a lot less power too. Of course, that method might mean it would take a longer time to get everything ready, but she was willing to wait. The home by the ocean front would let Harry get used to the sea, and besides, she hoped he'd grow to enjoy the water as much as his father had enjoyed the sky.

Looking at her sleeping son resting nearby on a comfortable bed, she felt a sad smile cross her lips for a moment, before allowing a sigh to leave her lips once more. Poor Harry still didn't know that he would never see dad again. Lily felt a clench around her own heart. Despite the fact she and James had been growing distant he had shown her he genuinely loved her, and she had fallen for him as well. Despite needing to stay strong she felt the hurt beneath the surface. She knew she had to stay strong for now though, and kept her mind occupied with other matters as much as she could.

The wind blew outside, and Lily gazed out of the second-story window. The waves hitting the shore in their calm rhytm washed away the footsteps in the sand from her earlier wandering. The ward stones were in place to keep the property safe from the natural disasters, as well as offer it a modest amount of protection. Those wards were hardly unusual, and would not draw attention from magical community, they would identify it as a magical home but not particularly important one, which was exactly what she aimed for.

One of the best ways to hide was being in plain sight. Heavy wards and obfuscation would only work as long as nobody gave the area more than a cursory look. Such magic would leave a huge imprint for someone that knew what to look for. Someone like the veteran auror Moody would be able to notice the presence of such intense magic and it would only draw his interest to note the sheer amount of magic used to hide a home like that.

Of course, besides the active wards that would already give a fair measure of protection and warning in case someone would approach them, there were secondary wards stones she had laid out much closer to the property, which remained inactive for now but if the situation would call for it she would activate them. They would certainly prove a nasty surprise to any would-be intruders, and should either help fight off any attacks or at the very least buy her the necessary time to get Harry and get out of there. She was not going to let herself be trapped in a corner again.

A couple of contingency plans were already being implemented, and she had actually impressed the goblins with her preparations. Of course, it cost a fair share of gold to carry out all the preparations that she wanted, but she had paid it from the interest of her own investments, which said something about her ability with the money, the purchases were not cheap but she had covered them without decreasing that which would belong to Harry in time.

Stepping out onto the balcony to gaze out at the warm waters, Lily Evans breathed deeply and shivered. She had not had any premonitions of immediate danger after throwing that tosser Voldemort to the volcano and leaving Britain had made her feel more secure about both her and young Harry's future, but she had a feeling it was not over. Her preparations were not just because Dumbledore might come looking for the boy. While Voldemort _should _be dead, she did not consider his threat over. The psychotic maniac had inspired frightening loyalty among his followers, and had claimed to be immortal during the war in the many duels he'd taken part in.

Lily was inclined to believe in the old wisdom of not believing someone was truly gone until she saw the body. Dropping the tosser into a volcano made that a difficult thing to ask for, but it only meant taking the warnings her visions of possible threats gave her all the more seriously. She was not going to hide herself and Harry under fortress-level wards and shelter him all his life, but neither was she going to just relax on a French beach having Harry surrounded by a group of Veela from early age onwards.

That might have happened if she and James had both died that night and Sirius managed to escape Britain with Harry. Somehow, she wasn't doubting the fact Sirius would have tried to instill his 'devil may care' attitude to Harry, as well as his playboy tendencies towards women. Lily was just glad Sirius had taken her warnings about looking at her seriously back at Hogwarts. If he hadn't, she and James might well have stayed apart given that he would've blamed her for cursing Sirius in a severe manner.

Even if their romance had not lasted, without it there would not have been Harry, and she had come to love the little boy from the first moment on in a way that made her willing to defy Dumbledore and everyone else. The power of mother's love could be frightening sometimes, and with a cunning and selectively vicious woman such as Lily it could polish her determination to a level where even the Marauders would have dreaded to face her glare and wrath.

==== Plans and Precautions ====

The pulse in the wards alerted Alice that something was wrong. Ever since they heard that Voldemort had gone and attacked the Potters she had felt some comfort in the sad thought that now their Neville should at least be a little safer. They had agreed to let their own Fidelius fade after Dumbledore assured them it was safe. Yet now their border-wards were shaking, and based on the impacts they would not last for even a minute.

Alice called out for Frank only to see him already pulling on his dragonhide vest. They had both felt the wards snapping in place. Portkeying or apparating away wouldn't work anymore, and the floo had apparently been blocked, based on the fact the handful of green powder rested on the flames without reaction. She knew that meant someone was going to strike at her family now, and little Neville was at risk.

"Frank, we have to get to the basement. Remember Lily's warning!" She hissed sharply, causing Frank to frown but nod, following after her. They hadn't thought it could really happen, but it seemed they were wrong. They hadn't been willing to invest a great deal of money on better wards in the middle of the war, nor had they thought they would be at risk if Dumbledore said they should be safe, but Lily had insisted, going as far as bringing them the backup plan along with her warning.

With Neville in her arms, Alice dashed down the steps to the basement as Frank sent his Patronus out to the Ministry of Magic, then dashing off after Alice. The plan would be risky, and it could backfire horribly, but it should buy them enough time for Aurors to swarm the place and stop the death-eaters or at least drive them off. As she made her way downstairs she cast a look up at the stairs waiting for her husband. She shook her child in her arms frightened that they had already broken in and coming, but seeing Frank rushing down the steps a moment later closing the door behind him made her at least sigh in some relief.

The two of them cast each other a look, before Alice handed Neville to Frank and moved to disillusion a trunk at the back of the room, opening its lid to reveal the steps leading down below. It was a small room they had in the trunk but it was a room that wasn't apparent in any plans for the house, and as Frank followed Alice inside a moment later, the closing lid let the disillusionment snap and the trunk once more vanished into the shadows of the cellar's corner.

The blasting noise upstairs alarming the couple in the trunk that their front door had just been breached, the cackling of the mad witch letting them know they had definitely taken the right choice in following after Lily's plan. Looking at the thick stone walls providing perfect cover to bottleneck a foe trying to enter the trunk, and strong enough to shield even from any blasting curses, they knew if it came to it they could make their final stand a bloody one for the death-eaters.

Alice moved to set Neville down to a small crib set behind a corner at the back of the room, casting a glance at the bed left there as well as the nearby set of 'rations' as Lily had called them. They were supposedly just in case but she really didn't know how Muggles could eat the disgusting stuff. Still, since food could not be conjured but water could they would be able to subsist with the rations for a far longer time than they could without, if it ever came to that, but neither of them thought it could take that long. It was just another precaution.

"Albus said we'd be safe, he guaranteed it. I am going to let him know just how 'safe' I felt having Voldemort's chief witch breaking into our house and having to retreat without a fight." Frank growled angrily but felt Alice's arm on his own, offering some comfort. The taunting words above carried to their trunk perfectly, a charm to make them aware of what went on nearby. They waited, hearing their household being searched and vandalized, and the infuriated screams.

Recognizing the bickering voices, the names spoken, and the shock that the last one created they held quiet wondering what to think about the news they now had if they made it through, when they heard Rodolphus shouting in anger. "Aurors, we have to-" A massive blast could be heard before Moody's familiar voice rose high.

"Lethals only, I see one stunner and I'll shove the caster's wand up their arse, these scum don't deserve no second chances to rape and murder!" The shrieking and spell casting rose to a new height, and Frank moved to open the trunk with the intent to join the fray. He wasn't going to stand down and let others fight for him without helping, now that the odds weren't entirely against them anymore.

Alice, however, remained behind considering how close they had come to dying. The two of them wouldn't have been able to fight off Bellatrix Lestrange while also fending off Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange as well, and hearing the fourth voice had been a nasty surprise. None of them had known that Barty Crouch Junior was a death-eater, but based on the shrieks above the Wizengamot would soon hear about it, and be presented evidence in the form of a cooling corpse with a dark mark on the arm.

Dumbledore could say what he wanted about second chances, but inwardly Alice was just glad hearing the death-eater death-screams above, although the cursing from Moody was not something she would have approved Neville to hear. Still, better that than being left an orphan, or worse having the entire family die out because of a few pureblood bigots needing to act superior and slaughter people to compensate for their own massive failings.

**End Chapter**

Not one of my best work, but hopefully tolerable enough to explain a few things and get some look around. I considered writing the battle from Moody's point of view but I am not too confident in my skill in writing action scenes, and had already focused more on the people whose lives are different this time around.

I never really saw the sense of the Longbottoms coming out of hiding so soon after the events that lead to Voldemort's downfall, being told its safe and not having any precautions seems negligent to me. I would think on their guard, noticing the wards are flaring they would have time to at least react, especially if a friend of theirs had reminded them about a very real threat, a friend who they might well assume was dead despite her precautions.

I am going to do a bit of a time-skip ahead for the next chapter, though Harry has a better life not being raised by the Dursleys. Doesn't mean he's a picture perfect prince that's secretly the Heir of Merlin, owning all of Magical Britain and having the perfect answer to every problem. That is for crack and attempts to be humorous for being just plain overpowering to a point of making fun of it. No, I hope to have a Harry who's been raised by an intelligent mother and grown up differently.

I considered a comment left in an earlier review, and though I had considered European countries, I am seriously considering something else now.

Also, I am _**shamelessly stealing a very cool idea from **__**Rorschach's Blot**_ who is a lot better writer than I am, but that I feel that idea could be used nicely here too, and I hope to give it my own Spin in this. **"On an Island in the Sun"** if you are curious. Highly recommended.


	3. Chapter 3: Tides Turn

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 3: Tides Turn**

Years passed in relative peace for young Harry and Lily Evans. Harry proved to be his mother's son, showing a keen mind that his mother encouraged him to develop further, while Lily attended mundane classes to complete a degree. Lily's focus was always on Harry and with their finances secure thanks to the Potter family fortunes, it was mostly something to satisfy the desire for new knowledge that drove her to those evening classes, as well as it being an extra measure of 'camouflage' in the mundane world.

Harry spent many hours after his school day with a good book, whether mundane or magical, it was his choice. Harry learned a fair bit of spell theory but Lily did not want to teach him the practical magic till he was at least ten, and his core had began to stabilize. Besides, she wanted him to enjoy being a kid while he could, spending part of the day outside riding the waves. Lily had come to enjoy sunbathing and swimming as well, developing a nice tan and drawing the eyes of several men when visiting a public beach, but she wasn't there to flirt around but watch Harry around others.

They travelled on different parts of the world, seeing both mundane and magical sights, collecting copies of old texts and reasonably trusted translations. With the right spells languages were fairly quick and easy to learn, allowing them to travel at ease. All the while, Lily kept alert for any signs of surprise but after a few years it had began to seem there was no death eaters on their trail, and people had left them alone, or at least not made the connection between Lily Potter that most of the world thought dead, and Lily Evans, despite it being her maiden name. Similarly nobody seemed to see Harry Potter from beneath the name of Harry Evans.

The little fantasy tales of Harry being a messy-haired youth with glasses and a scar on his forehead had her shaking her head when she first ran into them, and a quickly scribed letter later she heard back from her contact in Britain that the public had been in shock when the Potter proxy actually took action about the rampant use of the Potter name in fictional stories without the family permission. Dumbledore had tried to soothe things over but the end result was clear. The author lost every galleon he made writing the tales, and more, and got warned that the next time they made up stories about a Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble they would lose more than their galleons.

Lily thought it was a little petty at the time, but at the same time reminded herself that they were writing lies about her Harry, and she definitely wasn't going to allow that to continue. Unfortunately she had to work through her proxy because she did not trust Dumbledore at all. His actions in trying to encourage people to be more lenient with the Death Eaters at the trials after the war had left her stumped. The so called 'Leader of the Light' spat on the sacrifice of several brave Aurors that gave their lives to capture the vile bastards for questioning by denying veritaserum even when confronted by several witnesses identifying the attackers openly.

International Confederation of Wizards had finally thrown Dumbledore out after seeing the sham-trials the country was carrying out, and though many families like the Malfoys escaped punishment in Britain, the other nations publically announced that any death-eaters captured on their soil would be executed as terrorists, calling them _outlaws_ with no protection of law given they had not respected the rights of others before either.

All in all, Lily had a feeling that the other nations were doing a lot better when Dumbledore's grasp on power was so weakened, but unfortunately Dumbledore had grasped even tighter on Wizengamot and Hogwarts in turns. Even going as far as claiming that they would all see young Harry in a couple of short years when he'd arrive to Hogwarts for his first year. Lily grimaced at that thought. There was no way she would let Harry go there, not while Dumbledore was alive and breathing.

==== Tides Turn ====

**July 31st, 1991**

Harry woke up with a yawn, pulling himself up from his bed feeling his whole body aching slightly. Yesterday's practice had been a tough one, and though Harry knew that his mom wanted him to do well he wondered if she was going a little too far fearing he would get hurt without her around him every moment. His body ached because the training that involved both physical exercise and casting spells nearly to exhaustion, leaving him tired enough to fall asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

Slipping out of the bed he headed to shower and get ready for the day, while Lily was cooking a meal downstairs. A knife chopped the vegetables on its own while Lily was taking a tray of baked goods out of the oven, a smirk playing on her lips. It wasn't every day a boy turned eleven, and his friends would show up in a few hours. The letters were waiting in a neat stack nearby, ready for his perusal. She had left the Hogwarts letter among them after casually removing the tracking charms from the letter before bringing it back from the Gringotts where their mail had been redirected. Within Gringotts' walls such charms were of little use, and as she never brought it outside Gringotts with the tracking spell still active, the sender would have no help from it in trying to guess where in the world Harry Potter was.

Appropriately, the letter listed a number in Gringotts internal system, rather than an address. No country, no street address, and definitely not a house number. This should have the headmaster growling in frustration, she thought to herself with a smirk. The other letters likewise included the number, but they had not included tracking charms or anything such, though a few of them were sealed by magic so that they would only open to the right person, being impervious to attempts by anyone else to open or destroy them.

"Morning mom," Harry said while walking downstairs his hair wet and brushed back, already dressed for the guests.

"Good morning, and happy birthday. I got a few letters for you, do you want them now or after we've had the guests over?" Lily smiled while making a gesture at the stack of letters, seeing Harry's gaze follow along she moved to pick them up and set them down before her son.

"I think I'd like to see where to go, and then enjoy the day." Harry smiled while opening the first letter, from Hogwarts. Reading it through quietly, he shook his head slightly while setting it down and sighing. "It seems that Mister Dumbledore is so sure I am going to arrive at Hogwarts that he isn't inviting me, he is telling me I have been accepted and they are expecting me to reply by the end of the day."

Taking up the letter after he offered it to her Lily frowned, there was no real compulsions on the letter but given that there were no letters from Beauxbatons or Durmstrang it seemed Dumbledore still had the European countries believing that Harry had already agreed to come to Hogwarts and it was his only option. Unfortunately for Dumbledore convincing one region didn't stop the others from trying.

Reading through the stack of letters Harry set several of them aside, setting down a few piles before finishing his reading and seeming to sit there thinking about it. As Lily stepped over with two breakfast plates to put one before him and one before herself, Harry kept looking over a set of four letters rather thoughtfully. Out of twenty letters, only four seemed to be of real interest then.

"Salem Institute in the United States sounds like a cool place to go, they teach mundane subjects in shortened form alongside the magical subjects, so it would be fairly easy to pass off as mundane after graduating from that school while having a good focus on magical subjects over all. The Nganga School in Africa seems to provide a variety of interesting lessons and the sheer size of their gardens and creature pens would make herbology and creature care classes there pretty interesting." He drew a breath, thinking about things a moment before continuing again.

"Youkai Academy in Japan would offer an environment of several different races put together to learn how to act human with plenty of mundane classes as well as a good variety of other classes like the magical subjects. Could be interesting place to make friends." He smiled slightly, but shook his head faintly at the time.

"Haven Academy on a mundane-warded Island near New Zealand seems to offer a wide variety of classes including some mundane subjects as well, and there's a lot of non-humans around to learn from. I think that Haven is the place I should attend then."

Harry finally nod his head and smiled up at Lily who smiled in turn and took up the letters to look them through. After a short moment she nodded her head in approval, chuckling. "Well then, it seems you have a confirmation letter to write, and then we'll see about your birthday party. We'll do the shopping later this evening." As she considered Harry's choice, Lily felt a bit sad that her son was going to be leaving home for most of the year soon, but she took comfort at least it was far from Dumbledore's malevolent reach.

==== Tides Turn ====

Albus Dumbledore was not having a good day. Losing his position at the International Confederation of Wizards was an unpleasant turn of events that cut off a lot of his political power, and the Wizengamot had been in an uproar about how ungrateful the other nations were. At least the Wizengamot had not blamed him for losing the position, seeing as they considered it being a matter of ICW trying to influence the British politics, something which they felt should not happen.

Nonetheless, it had been a frustrating decade for him, with more and more pressure being pushed on his shoulders about his redeemed death eater Severus Snape teaching potions at Hogwarts. Really, the people got upset because Severus was a strict teacher, could they not see the positive change the man was showing, how his change from killing to teaching was making the dark haired man a better person. Dumbledore felt annoyed at times how blind people could be to his attempts to pursue the Greater Good.

Resting back in his chair he stared at the damnable envelope before him. The enchanted quill should have given him an address, or at least a country to start looking around in, but instead it gave a number for Gringotts' internal systems, and that left him in an awkward position. His attempts to work with a few displeased goblins that wanted to improve their lot in life had not borne fruit, the bribes he had quietly slipped them had lead them to try and find out about the Potter accounts, only to be caught and their heads decorating spikes outside of the Gringotts a few days later.

The goblins had not officially declared him a persona non-grata, but he was having a lot of trouble getting the goblins to co-operate with him at all, and they had informed the ministry that due to a few previous misunderstandings it would be best if Dumbledore was not sent to deal with them in any capacity of the Wizengamot given that they considered the man _untrustworthy_. That had certainly raised a few eyebrows and when the Daily Prophet ran an article about it he found himself facing a fair share of unpleasant inquiries about it.

The Potter proxy was unwilling to discuss where the young Heir was, and outright laughed at his claim to have been designated as the guardian, the argument ending with her shoving an authorization letter from Lily Potter herself into his face, dated the same day she and James had died. The damn muggleborn had dared to throw a wrench into his plans, if Lily wasn't already dead Dumbledore would have been tempted to kill her himself. Yet magic he had used to seek out Lily Potter gave no signs of finding her. Either Lily was dead or she was no longer a Potter, and it was far more likely that the woman was dead.

Sighing wearily and shaking his head, Dumbledore quietly mourned his now lost plans, having to rely on the hope that Harry Potter would come to Hogwarts, but after being spirited away the way he had, and hidden from Dumbledore for all these years, it was unlikely that his guardian would relinquish the boy to come to Hogwarts. Dumbledore would have to make quiet inquiries in other schools to find out if the boy was receiving an education elsewhere if he didn't show up, but unfortunately beyond Europe his influence was practically none. The Americans in particular seemed to regard him as a senile old man.

Sending Fawkes after the boy had only lead to a sulking, badly beaten phoenix that refused to give any answers. From what Dumbledore could figure out the boy had a rather powerful phoenix ward around him, and so his bound slave could not find the boy, despite the fact few people would ward against such a light creature, but then again if whoever took the boy knew that Dumbledore had a Phoenix it had admittedly been a good precaution to take.

Seeing as the ward the phoenix had ran into had almost forced it to go through a burning day Dumbledore was willing to let his companion rest for now and recover. The power behind the wards had to be remarkable, and phoenix wards were quite uncommon. Perhaps she could track the boy down by inquiring about who had acquired such wards. Unless the person had warded the boy's location themselves, it was quite likely the bank would have some information. Unfortunately, the goblins weren't too keen to tell him anything right now.

Then again, he could always ask Arthur Weasley for that, he was a trusted man and a ministry official so such an inquiry from him should be acceptable, with the right money exchanging hands and not inquiring on any particular clients but simply asking about if such wards had been needed anywhere. On a second thought, he wondered if doing so would reveal a little too much about his attempts. The information to be gained could be of use, but at the same time he would expose a fair share with what he was inquiring, and someone could connect the dots and see what he was up to.

While he did honestly believe he had a duty to search for young Harry, the Wizengamot was ruling in favor of the proxy after her reassurance that the Potter heir was fine, something that the proxy had offered proof of to Amelia Bones, under oath that not a word of it would pass to another person unless Madame Bones thought the boy was at risk. Given that both the proxy and Madame Bones were both trained in occlumency and could detect his subtle probes he wasn't going to risk trying to unearth that information, he would most assuredly fail and such invasion of privacy might be brushed off with some that worshipped the ground he walked upon but these two would bury him for daring to even attempt that.

Oh things would have been so much easier if he could have only gotten his hands on those proxies, perhaps given them to a loyal person who he could trust to vote the way he chose. Deagalus Diggle would surely have deserved a place in the Wizengamot and with such important seat, he would have owed Dumbledore that much more, and cemented the wizard's allegiance to him. Damn that muggleborn schemer, Lily Potter was the root of all headaches for Dumbledore.

==== Tides Turn ====

Cleaning up the livingroom after his guests had left, Harry could hear his mother humming while washing the dishes. He was eager to do his shopping for the Haven Academy, but at the same time he felt a little intimidated by the thought of leaving everyone he was familiar with and meeting people he had never seen before. Yet at the same time he was relishing the opportunity to be on his own. It was a strange bit of worrying and feeling eager for the possibilities ahead.

Lily in turn was smiling quietly as she thought about how things were going. Harry would do his shopping, and spend the rest of the month no doubt practicing the bits of magic he would try out the first year. Given how he had excelled with theory, she was sure that within a month's time she'd be able to help him get over the little worries that often troubled the young casters before they began to build up their confidence. She would help him on his way, and when he'd leave to go find his own path Lily would be able to stand proud at having prepared her son to face the world to the best of her abilities.

As for her own preparations, their home at the isles was a small, peaceful beach-front property but it was still mostly protected by the fact their enemies weren't sure where they were living. The preparations to start with the _Hidden Island _project of hers were done, she had the different concepts mapped out and had been considering the use of strengthening elixirs for a while. They would give her the necessary power to start the project, but they boosted her magic momentarily at the cost of losing her magic to a similar length of time she would spend recovering.

She would not want her son to witness her feeling as powerless as a squib, but with the several months he would be at the academy she would be able to lay down the groundwork. When her son was old enough, she had a feeling he could do the job even without strengthening elixirs, but she wanted to at least get the basic stone isle ready in case they would have to abandon their current home.

"Mom, I'm done with the cleaning!" Hearing Harry's voice Lily smiled and looked up at him, drying her hands in a towel and nodding approvingly. Though magic could do little chores faster at times, she didn't mind getting her hands a little dirty now and then, it helped keep her grounded after all. Using magic for every problem would just make the world seem like nails and magic her hammer. Better to have surprises in store, and what better way than to do a fair share of things without magic and keep in mind that sometimes a magical solution wasn't the right one.

"Already? My, you've really been working fast. Someone's eager to go get himself a wand isn't he?" Her teasing tone full of mirth. The blush on his cheeks was adorable and she kissed his forehead gently before nodding. Moving to pick up her bag, she guided Harry with her to the nearby floo and picked a bit of the powder from the box. Raising her arm in the air, she threw the powder down while calling out their destination, and a step forth brought them to the magical alley in their area of the world.

==== Tides Turn ====

Andromeda Tonks leaned back with a satisfied sigh leaving her lips as she rested back in her chair. The look of Madame Umbridge trembling in rage trying to hold her wrath inside was always funny. Her attempt to have all purebloods receive a 20% discount on all goods in the Diagon alley and charging extra from half-bloods and especially from muggleborns had been thrown out with Andromeda's fierce resistance, adding to the voices of Alice Longbottom.

Fudge kept trying to moderate things but with the amount of time they had to spend stomping down the vile ideas Madame Umbridge tried to bring up to court, they had unfortunately not been able to stop all the ideas that Lucius Malfoy had managed to slip in here and there. How that vile man had survived the war and managed to claim imperious she could not understand, but bribes were certainly behind the change in opinion. Given the amount of evidence though, there had to have been something else too.

Still, towards the end of the war the Lestrange family and the Notts had been destroyed entirely. The Black family had swallowed up the votes and seats that Lestrange family held, while the Nott votes had landed in the hands of the Greengrass family who were staying notably neutral on most things, even if they were considered Dark by their preference to stick to the old ways. They were traditionalists but they were not purists, so Andromeda didn't think badly of them.

Dumbledore was the main reason why things weren't going well in her opinion. His 'forgive and forget' policy seemed stupid enough that Andromeda wanted to hit her head against the wall repeatedly most of the time, but had decided a good bottle of firewhiskey was a better medicine. She had felt more than a few attempts at legilimency on her person already and called him out in the Wizengamot on it. When the man boldly claimed he did no such thing she had rounded up driving him in a corner for trying to paint her as a liar, a claim that had gotten the Longbottom family to stand by her.

It had been enough to push the man back on some of his 'fine ideas' but not enough to get him thrown out. Nonetheless, those death-eaters that had not been killed on duty had been released, much to her disgust. For a while they even tried to charge Alastor Moody with murder of fine upstanding citizens, but when she and a few others called for lawyer's pensive of the night, nobody had sided with the late Lestrange family or offered any sympathies. Their madness and cruelty was readily apparent, and most people actually applauded Alastor for using a cutting curse to remove Bella's head from her shoulders.

Dumbledore's insistence on trying to gain support to having Harry Potter sought out and brought to his care had been shattered when Madame Bones had demanded the Potter will be brought up and unsealed if he brought the matter up even one more time, after having it thrown out year after year. No matter how the old man could try, he couldn't get even half the votes and he'd need two thirds to even bring the idea to a serious debate.

Potter had a proper proxy and a guardian, and in Andromeda's mind Dumbledore's attempts were nothing short of criminal. She had accepted her position as the Potter proxy before things came to a grim end, and had been slamming down the old man's attempts ever since. These days she felt she had to fight the old man more than she had to fight the 'former death eaters'. Of course, the reason for that might be apparent after two death-eaters that showed up on her doorstep to try and torture her turned up dead at Ted Tonk's wand point.

Dumbledore had tried to push for the man to be tried but the Wizengamot respected the Potter proxy and her husband more than they respected Malfoy's accomplices, Grabbe and Goyle Senior. Of course, given that the two had ignored warning ward and stunning ward on a private property that had been triggered by the intent to cause harm, and had been trying to set the house on fire, their deaths in full death-eater regalia had made the imperious defense shaky.

Dumbledore had used that to try and insist they needed his protection as did the young Potter, but a few floo calls with Amelia Bones had set things into an interesting position where she, Alice Longbottom and Amelia Bones held their own power block opposing Dumbledore in most of his schemes but mainly voting for what they believed best for the wizarding world. They were not a major block but they had considerable number of votes behind their esteemed families.

One of their quick moves had been to prevent Dumbledore from assuming proxy of the House Black votes, and stopping Lucius Malfoy from doing the same. They had pointed out that the Heir Black still lived and the goblins confirmed he had not lost his position, and his named proxy had been killed in the war but he had certainly not named either of those two men. The bitter struggles over that had taken well over three years before the initiatives to bring Sirius Black out of Azkaban for a trial to settle the matter had come up, after the revelation he had never received a trial. Suddenly, there was a rush to drop the case and seal the matter, leaving Sirius into his cell.

Andromeda could smell a rat in this, and she had been working with her two companions to uncover the truth. There was obviously more going on than they were being told. She kept writing to Lily while being amused at the antics the wizards got up to, seeming to consider Lily dead because only Harry might have survived, a lie perpetrated by Dumbledore to build up the myth of boy-who-lived.

Of course, that myth was known but also largely debunked by the fact the proxy ruined the book deals, and the merchandising attempts had been taxed so heavily by the goblins the ones that tried that had lost more money than they had even made with their sales, forcing them to quit it practically immediately.

She had been trying to find out the whole truth but Lily was very wary about what she was willing to say, other than the fact Dumbledore was at fault, and that Andromeda was on the right track. Lily had even sent her a memory of Sirius telling them to take Pettigrew as their secret keeper, but without proof it was hard to do anything, though she had shown it to Amelia.

They had moved Sirius quietly from the worst part of Azkaban to the minimum security, and let the guards know their life depended on the man's survival as well. There had been a few assassination attempts. None that could be tracked back to Malfoy, but his attempts to get his own son elected as Black Heir through Narcissa was clear enough.

Nonetheless, they kept pushing for a trial but they needed better evidence, Lily's memory was not enough by itself what with Dumbledore standing behind the conviction, and the ministry officials taking such credit of throwing him in the cell and then throwing away the key. It was obvious they'd sooner have the man murdered, or accidentally kissed, than admit to their own mistake. That was why they had taken slow steps in preparing for his release, but the man was growing in strength, and being informed once more about the state of the world.

Now, Dumbledore had been trying to relieve everyone's concerns about the boy-who-lived by claiming that the boy's parents had wanted him to come to Hogwarts and set everything up including a trust fund before Harry became an orphan, and that the letter would surely help them find the boy and bring him back amongst his peers. That had been the old man's hope, and perhaps in his arrogance, his honest belief. Lily didn't leave such obvious mistakes in her path though. That path had been blocked with goblin-grade shutters, and getting the goblins to reveal banking secrets was going to be a task that would cost more time and money than the old man had, if it was even possible in the first place.

Looking quietly at the portrait on her desk of her sweet Nymphadora, Andromeda silently shook her head in frustration at how her child refused to accept her name. She insisted on being called Tonks, seeming to think her name was shameful. Being named after the first witch that dared to seize control of the family seat and present the family in the Wizengamot should have been an honor in her opinion, and Nymphadora was certainly a bright witch, not to mention her talent in metamorphosis.

Of course, Andromeda felt that it was going to have to be accepted as part of a teenager rebelling against their parents, but she genuinely hoped she would let it go eventually. Feeling her husband's hands stroke on her shoulders massaging on them she let out a long sigh in relaxation. Perhaps it had been long enough day by now. Perhaps it was time to get some rest. In a month's time, she was sure Dumbledore would be speaking loudly in the Wizengamot for the need to bring the Potter back home to Britain. Perhaps even appealing to the ICW for the boy to be brought back. Not that it would help the old man much, the ICW had taken a dim view of how things had gone on in Britain.

Of course, the fact that a few of Lucius Malfoy's acquintances had been caught in France on a stroll with long black cloaks and fanciful white masks hadn't helped Dumbledore one bit. The French had stunned the duo, interrogated them, and executed them despite British ministry's complaints. After the two death eaters voluntarily confessed several crimes including treason against the British government they had been decapitated and their heads returned to their own ministry, their bodies turned to ashes and thrown into the sea.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, she thought to herself while turning to kiss her Teddy, following her husband to bed.

**End Chapter**

Long time since I last posted, I've been keeping busy and having a variety of wild ideas. I keep putting most of them aside but some have been interesting enough for me to write 1 chapter of something else, and another chapter of something else the next day. I finally got back to this, and about time I'll admit.

I got my Overlord story to post to when I get the proper inspiration flowing for that, but again, I post on my own schedule not anyone else's.

Ten years have passed and Harry's school life is about to start, I wanted to write mostly on Harry, but then again thought about writing about what else has been going on. Not as humorous this time around I fear.


	4. Chapter 4: Swirling Schemes

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 4: Swirling Schemes**

Lily felt a little sad seeing her brave young boy packing his things to his newly acquired trunk. They did have the communication mirrors to talk to one another in the evenings but she was still sad to see her Harry leaving home. At least he could come back on his Winter vacation and for the Easter, but it still felt like a long time to her. Of course, if things got too difficult she could apply for a permit to visit the academy on a weekend but she figured Harry would be awfully embarrassed about it if she did so, and though she loved embarrassing him a little bit now and then she didn't want the people to start teasing him.

Reading over the booklist to check they had everything, she sighed quietly to herself while wondering about some of the classes. Unlike Hogwarts, the Haven Academy held courses on mundane subjects and not just an embarrassingly outdated muggle studies class. Still, she had a feeling that Harry would be bored in the mundane subject classes for first and second year perhaps, having been a bit ahead in his mundane studies anyway and the courses at Haven Academy would start with the assumption some students had no real contact with the modern, mundane world and thus needed to be lead into things at a slightly slower pace. Of course, that would only be true at the start, they'd have to catch up quickly enough.

Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology and Potions were all familiar classes. Defense Against the Dark Arts was replaced by Battle Magic, there were no classes on Astronomy offered on first year, though there would be more to it later. Along with a test to see if a child had the gift, or curse of the sight. Given that Lily possessed a mild ability, it was possible that her Harry might inherit it, but it was not a talent seen among the Potter family tree so it might just as well not emerge in him in time.

The mundane subjects of science, mathematics, language and sports would probably draw their share of attention to them. Science to understand the world around them a little better and carry out a few experiments to learn about it. Mathematics to lay groundwork for the future lessons in arithmancy and other such subjects. Languages to learn various different languages during their stay and correct their grammar a little, and the sports to let them run wild and spend some of their energy.

Lastly there was the mundane and magical histories, which were separate, but equally important pieces of a course, though had half as much time in the schedule as the other classes since 'history' had been split into two halves rather than consisting of two full courses.

The list of subjects broadened third year, and then again fifth year, branching into a variety of topics that could be studied. Lily admitted she was a little sad she had not known about the Haven Academy's existence when she was eleven, but apparently the British were insistent that Hogwarts was the best school, and therefore every British child should go there. Of course, a number of purebloods thought the strict nature of Durmstrang would work out well too.

Living abroad Lily had no such illusions about Hogwarts however, she sought out information on the comparative levels of the schools and had to admit to herself Harry had picked one of the best schools there was. There were a couple of more prestigious places to learn magic, but _Merlin's School for the Gifted_ was definitely a snooty place, and they had an up-to-date mundane studies class but that was all they had to teach about the mundane world. Beyond that, Haven was probably the best school to apply to, though one that required a serious work ethic to get ahead in it.

"I'm ready mum!" Harry smiled while walking downstairs, swishing his wand briefly to levitate his trunk down the stairs behind him and settle down on the floor. "Everything is packed, we got a bit of time left, and the portkey's in my pocket." He smiled to her happily, while Lily nod her head in approval.

"Now be sure to write me every week, and I'll see you on the holidays." She leaned in to kiss his cheek despite the bit of grimace he showed. Harry was getting a little old for being kissed by his mother but didn't protest it out loud yet. It was simply something she noticed and smiled about quietly. Sad as it was for her to see her little bird leave the nest, she knew it was coming.

"I will mum, promise." Harry said while smiling a little and pulling out the small ticket in his pocket, gazing at it. This was his way to the island, that arrived by letter. Keyed to him at the bank, it would not take anyone else, and it would activate at the pre-designated time, whether or not he was holding onto it. Of course, the countdown on the ticket itself helped keep track of that.

"Alright, now send word for me if you find out you forgot anything but if not, it is time to shrink your trunk and tuck it in your pocket so you won't lose it." Lily warned him calmly while moving to pet the snowy white owl that rested on its perch nearby next to Lily's own tawny owl. "You'll look after him won't you Hedwig?" She asked, earning a reassuring hoot from the white owl who promptly flew to settle down on Harry's shoulder.

"Don't worry mum, we'll be okay," Harry managed to say before the portkey activated. In a whirl they were gone, and a couple of seconds later the wards came back. Lily had made sure to suppress the _outgoing portkey ward_ for the time it took for the ticket to carry Harry off, but she was still wondering about a lot of things she had learned along the years.

Their beach-front property had been secure for several years now, a few attempts at tracking down Harry by both pureblood bigots and the manipulative old headmaster had failed spectacularly after all. Letters with tracking charms were purged at Gringotts, addressing them directly to her only worked for those who knew to use 'Evans' rather than 'Potter' for those letters, and Harry's mail was routinely checked for any magic as it passed through the Gringotts system. More than a few nasty surprises had been found, contained, and turned over to the DMLE of the country of origin.

Stepping out to the balcony, Lily wondered passingly if they really needed to create an isle of their own, while the peaceful beach gave her a sense of ease already. True, they were not exactly beyond reach, and true their wards were powerful but not indestructible, but the foe did not know where to look for them, and they had been able to enjoy a decade's worth of relative peace.

Still, she was prepared to start carrying out the old rites to raise an Isle and make it their own. She had a few good places in mind where to set one down, the necessary magic to make it unplotable and the preparation of potions and plants in stasis that would help turn the volcanic soil into fertile land. She had already tried to carry out an attempt on her own, careful to pace herself to not exhaust herself entirely, but in the end the small rock she had gotten wasn't enough. She'd need to cast the spell several times to make an area worth warding, and it would not be exactly stable with the amount of power she could pour into it.

There was a reason why countries were created by strong wizards and witches. It took a noticeable amount of power to create a capstone for an Isle, and that was 'cheating' anyway as the capstone took a fair part of the drain, but also brought the risk of losing the capstone meaning losing the entire land. The method she'd chosen would take some time and effort, a lot of magic and focus, but its benefits would be noticeable as well. With Harry's powers growing year after year, she was certain her son would surpass her, and they could raise a true sanctuary together in time. Given how things were in the magical world, she wasn't opposed to having Harry bring along anyone else who was truly oppressed either.

==== Swirling Schemes ====

The first of September had arrived, and a fair sized crowd had arrived to the platform nine and three-quarters. Eager to see the young children get aboard the Hogwarts Express to start their school life, they spoke with one another proudly, smiling and waving to their children in the windows. Yet another reason was there too, the constant promises by Albus Dumbledore that Harry Potter would be back to the wizarding world soon, and they hoped to see him there that day.

Yet the hour came, and the train left without even a hint of the green-eyed, dark haired boy that they had hoped to see for themselves that day. A few reporters in the crowd had taken a few pictures of the Hogwarts Express and the children aboard, but those pictures would be accompanied by a headline _Hogwarts Express leaves on schedule, Potter heir missing_.

Back at the school, the vice headmistress Minerva McGonagall was sighing wearily and staring at the stack of letters on her desk sadly. Not only had Harry Potter declined to attend, but so had several other promising children she had hoped to see that year. _Hermione Granger. Padma &amp; Parvati Patil. Daphne Greengrass. Tracy Davis. _

From what she had heard, each of them had chosen to go to school elsewhere. The Patil twins she had reassured that bigotry wasn't tolerated at Hogwarts but their parents had apparently not believed her word. Greengrass family had stayed neutral in the past war not trusting either Voldemort or Dumbledore, so it wasn't a big surprise to her that they'd send their daughter, perhaps both daughters, to another school. Losing Tracy Davis was inevitable, as she'd follow her friend.

Then there was Hermione Granger. Catching up on the family in France on their vacation had been difficult enough, but when she had to show them the magical shopping alley there on France given they couldn't portkey back and forth between the continent and the British isle like that without authorization, she had been forced to lead them to the French alley and merely inform them where to find the British one. During their stay at the Alley, the family had caught news about the other schools, and apparently this had lead Hermione to choose another place to attend. It was a shame, because the girl was not only inquisitive and very smart for her age, but also brave and unhesitant about furthering her knowledge. She had been sure the young woman would have been a true asset to her house in time.

Harry Potter's decline had been a shock earlier, but the repeated attempts to make him change his mind had lead to no real replies. it was uncertain whether he even received them after declining the first offer, given that the post had to be directed through Gringotts. She had caught the headmaster cussing up a storm about that, leading her to wonder about her employee's attempts to reach the child. The poor boy had chosen to attend elsewhere, Lily must be rolling in her grave Minerva thought to herself sadly.

Of course, having Albus Dumbledore return in an even more foul mood after a Wizengamot meeting soon after the Hogwarts Express had started on its way towards the school, she knew that his attempts to wrangle the location of the Potter heir from the proxy had failed once more. Given that he looked particularly vexed, she was starting to wonder if he had lost even more than that. She chose to not ask right away, because she was aware how explosive his temper could be when confronted by a yet another 'I told you so' by her.

While she did believe that Albus was a great man, she had to wonder if Albus' star was starting to go out. The man was venerable genius in his own right, but a venerable elder was still an elder. She considered herself well experienced and seasoned, but for Albus there was no avoiding the term 'Elder', given he had lived well over a hundred years already and started to show signs of his twilight years. Shaking her head sadly, Minerva stood up and decided to check that everything was ready at the Gryffindor dorm for the new students.

==== Swirling Schemes ====

Bending his knees just before he landed, Harry Evans let out a sigh after landing. His stomach felt a bit uneasy after the portkey ride, but he had gotten somewhat used to them already from the travel he had done with his mom in the earlier years. Long distance portkeys still tugged at the bottom of his stomach though, upsetting his appetite for a little while. At least it didn't make him feel ill anymore, like it had at the very beginning.

Looking around, he found himself standing on a large platform with a set of pillars at both sides supporting a domed roof, and old banners flying high above near the tops of those pillars. Gazing down over the railing, Harry drew a long breath. In the horizon, blue skies reached down to touch the blue waters below. The tall cliffs protected the shores, and he saw a pleasant small town resting ahead at the lower areas of the island, alongside a sizable forest and a fair bit of farmlands.

It seemed like a peaceful little place, though looking back at the Academy, he saw the tall stone walls reaching high, towers reaching towards the sky, and the stronghold itself imposing to witness yet seeming built to impress rather than for solid defense. A palace rather than a castle for war, he thought to himself briefly. Then again, with magic having both was an option certainly. Nonetheless, he heard the other cracks as the portkeys landed nearby, seeming to each place a student or pair of students at an empty circle on the floor at the heart of the balcony.

As he was looking at the people arriving, he noticed that the large dual doors to the academy at the back of the balcony began to open, revealing a large dining hall with long tables arranged at ready, as well as a group of four older people. Their teachers, he reasoned to himself briefly and smiled. There were ten of them waiting right now, and he noted briefly that seven of them were girls, only two other boys in this group he thought with some confusion.

"Welcome to Haven Academy. You are one of our first year groups, so you may find this place a little overwhelming at first. That's why we are here to help you get settled in. Now, we are going to have all of you first years show up in small groups to go over the basics and answer some questions, but most of the students show up in the evening for the feast, and the actual classes shall begin the next Monday."

Given that their first day was a Sunday, that made sense to Harry. A bit of a shame they couldn't have their first day happen on a Friday, that would have left them with a bit more time to explore the school and get used to it, but he wasn't going to complain. Looking at his fellow students he smiled wondering a bit about whether or not there was someone with non-human heritage in their group, before noticing one of the girls sneeze and cause her handkerchief to frost all over.

Another one of the girls chuckled faintly and for a moment Harry could have sworn he saw her eyes shift from their brown pools into animalistic slits, but that might just have been his imagination. Then again, given the situation they were in and the school they'd come to attend, perhaps not. So, his first impression was that the students seemed, at least on surface, perfectly human. He was a little disappointed, wondering if they might have some goblin or centaur students among other groups but even if not, he was curious to see what kind of people he could meet and perhaps befriend here over the coming years.

"First of all, I need to check your names match our scrolls, so please answer when you are called out." The man who had spoken at first continued while opening up a scroll he had tugged out of his pocket, lifting it before him and starting to read with a serious expression on his face. Harry listened to the names, thinking he wouldn't be able to put a name to a face right away but having some idea was better than having none. He answered when his turn came, and noted to his pleasure that none of the people seemed to be paying him any special attention.

After Dumbledore had began to try and spread his own tale about the 'boy-who-lived' Harry had wanted to bang his head to the wall and hope accidental magic could remove the frustration, but thankfully the family proxy had been just as good if not better in making sure those rumors died out, fading away. He had worried slightly that the students or teachers here would have heard of those rumors though and treat him differently because of it, but perhaps he was over-thinking it, he was a long way away from Britain after all.

==== Swirling Schemes ====

Griphook wasn't a pleasant goblin to deal with. He was petty, jealous and hot-headed, and felt that everything in life should be given to him for free. He had grown as a youngest son to a particularly fertile goblin family, and his family had not been wealthy to begin with. Very little of the family resources fell into his hands, and this left him acutely aware of the misery of poverty.

He had come to improve his lot in life through whatever means possible since then. Carrying out harsh tasks that had little thanks but at least somewhat sizable rewards had worn him down relatively quickly, but he had kept at it to acquire some wealth under his own name. He was a goblin who considered himself something of a mercenary, he might not want to fight in the clan wars or wear the symbols of a guard, but he was definitely one to work for the highest bidder.

In this particular occasion, a rather tempting offer had been made for him. All he needed to do was secure a bit of internal paperwork from the bank and he would be able to claim a reward that would see to it that he would live a happy, wealthy life afterwards. A simple enough thing, and relatively low-risk too, although impossible for any human employees of Gringotts, as the paperwork in question was kept at the lower levels only goblins were able to access.

Actually it would take a goblin of senior rank to get into those files, but a bit of money going the right way a senior manager that had retired fell asleep and didn't even notice their rank insignia missing, and probably wouldn't know it had been misused when they woke up to find it on the floor near them. In the meanwhile, Griphook would have a chance to get his hands on the files and the money.

Striding past the guards who took one look at his insignia and hastily saluted, Griphook simply ignored them continuing along to the archives. This was the level of respect he should have, but because he wasn't of influential family he would not get his foot in the doorway. Because he wasn't old enough and experienced enough he didn't yet hold the presence. Because he didn't display a particular talent with management he wasn't considered smart enough for the rank yet. Goblin society was, after all, a combination of meritocracy and aristocracy. Famed family lines could help one along, but they could only provide a head start, whether a career began to climb higher or plummeted to the depths was entirely in the hands of the goblin in question.

Born to a poor family, and not possessing the abilities to elevated himself much higher, it took hard work and many years of time to lift himself to a position where he could hold such respect. Respect that some gits would receive as a birthright. Of course, it was always fun to watch those same gits screw up once and cost their family a ton of money in fines to make sure the customers didn't suffer and choose to leave, before the gits in question would find themselves working at a much lower level than the ones that -started- at a low level. After all, the starting level was still moderately respectable, dropping below that was where it began to sting. Of course, that was the intension as those lower rankings were the punishment detail for serious mistakes and even crimes.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Griphook opened the door to the chamber holding client information about the mail re-routing service, and smirked while opening the thick book at the table. Checking the number on a piece of parchment he had with him, he leafed through the pages till he found it.

_Miss Lily Evans &amp; Mister Harry James Evans (Also known as Harry James Potter)_

_New Zealand Branch Gringotts_

Beneath the branch should have been an address for direct mailing, but it was missing. The damn family had bought the extra of only leaving their direct address to their closest branch of the bank. That was a costly one-time extra for the service, but apparently they had decided it was worth it. Still, it wasn't all bad. The client was desperate and just knowing what country the runaway child was in would help a great deal, and the revelation of who the Potter guardian was would certainly help the client 'forgive and forget' about not getting the exact address just yet.

Especially as the use of the given names would help track them down that much easier once whoever went after the boy would be in New Zealand as well. Satisfied, Griphook wrote the information down before slipping the note to his pocket and heading out. Walking past the guards he nodded briefly this time around, making his way back to the upper reaches of the tunnels, stopping by his old superior's place to drop off the rank insignia and then heading back to work. While preparing an accounts statement for a particular client, he slipped the note into the letter to accompany the official information, sealing the letter and addressing it.

_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

==== Swirling Schemes ====

Professor Quirrell closed the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom behind him and headed to the hallway with serious doubts on his mind. The burn ointment on his leg didn't take away the stinging sensation, and the salve he had applied to the wounds from goblin blades hadn't restored him fully either. He dared not approach the school healer because she would be very curious why he had burns and piercing as well as slashing wounds on his body. Especially when there had been an attempted break in at Gringotts just a little time ago.

Having killed all the witnesses in order to escape, Quirrell had managed to avoid being discovered yet but the goblins were out for blood by now. They might not state it publically, but they had lost some fine warriors that day. It was easier to claim someone had attempted to access the vault and fled to hide among other clients than to admit someone had fought their emergency response team and destroyed it.

Right now however he had other worries on his mind. His Master would not be satisfied with his poor performance, and Quirrell had accepted what that meant. Unless he could acquire the stone at the bank before the school year began, Quirrell would have to serve as a living host, as the serpent that his dark master was inhabiting right now was starting to near the end of its life.

The thought of having that much power within himself was intriguing, but he was keenly aware that the presence of another soul would be poisonous to him. Of course, that was only an additional reason for him to seek out the philosopher's stone later on. Its elixir of life could not only restore his master to his own body, but restore Quirrell to his prime, and as the dark lord's most loyal servant he would be in a position of power many fools would not even dream about.

Even better, Albus Dumbledore was so hard-pressed to locate the missing Potter heir that he wasn't taking care of things at the school like he usually did, and that meant more windows of opportunity for him to make good with his attempts and claim the stone. Soon, it would be his, and then the wizarding world would face the wrath of Lord Voldemort once again. Managing to suppress a chuckle, he silently wondered how the dark lord managed such a menacing cackle while his came off as a way too girlish chuckle every time he tried.

Without warning he found himself face to face with Severus Snape. This was the last person he wanted to run into. His master had made it clear that Severus Snape was only loyal to one man, and that was Severus Snape. The turncoat spy had reported to both Dumbledore and Voldemort towards the end of the war to ensure he was on the winning side, and held onto the illusion that Lord Voldemort thought him a loyal servant even now.

"Mr. Quirrell, the headmaster would like to have a word with you before the opening feast. Do not tarry for too long, he is in a particularly foul mood today and I would not keep him waiting." The smooth manner that Severus stated this complete with an apparent lack of emotions made Quirinus wonder just how slippery the fellow might be.

"S-surely th-the he-he-headm- m-master has m-m-more import-tat-tant things to do? I-I'm just g-go-going to ch-check my l-le-lesson plans now." He tried to continue along to his study only to have Severus grasp his arm strong enough to bruise. "Quirinus, as your senior educator here in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts I believe I am entitled to give you a piece of advice. Never keep Albus Dumbledore waiting for too long, he is not fond of it even on a good mood. While he is no dark lord, he is hardly the jolly old grandfather he likes to portray. Understand this, and your stay will be a lot easier." Letting go of Quirinus, Severus turned to walk away robes pillowing.

"Stupid arse." Quirinus muttered angrily, but changed his path, deciding to head on forth towards the headmaster's office to hear what he had to say. He didn't want to do so, his master awaited him already, but perhaps he might learn something that was worth the minor delay. Stepping before the gargoyle, he glared at the creature which seemed to pause for a moment before shifting aside. Teachers did have the permission to enter without a password after all, as long as Dumbledore was in his office, and had not set the staircase to hold still for the sake of privacy.

Making his way to the room above, the petulant professor saw the old grandfatherly man holding onto a letter he was reading, a small note on the table nearby. His eyes caught the names on it and he felt a sense of glee spread through him. This was good news, he knew where the damn brat had gone, and that meant he could please his master by handing him the boy's location once they were done here. With Lord Voldemort back and the bitch-who-portkeyed properly punished, and the boy-who-supposedly-lived turned in dead, the wizarding world would fall into despair when he unveiled the prophecy and the fact it was Albus Dumbledore himself who let everything fall into his lap. Ahh, Quirinus was certain it was going to be glorious.

"Ahh, Quirinus. How nice of you to join me. Now, given the nature of your contract, you will be expected to not only educate our young minds in the art of defensive magic and how to protect themselves and identify monstrosities they may encounter in their lives, but you will also be part of protecting the school. Right now, I have been putting finishing touches on a series of protections I have lined up to protect something at this school. While you won't need to know more than that right now, I am going to have to ask you to prove yourself capable of holding your position. I need you to acquire a troll for me. It will be put in place as one of the protections for what I am securing in Hogwarts' depths, and I will handle its placement in its proper place personally, once you have delivered it to the third floor corridor. I would like you to take care of this before the opening feast, but if not, it will be brought into place in the coming weeks during the night hours when we can order all prefects to gather the students in their dorms and lock them for the duration of the night."

The old fool was going to have the stone here, at Hogwarts, and wanted Quirinus Quirrell to contribute a troll to the stone's defenses ? The old man was definitely going senile, but Quirrell merely nodded briefly, stuttering his acceptance before being waved away. He was going to get the old man a troll alright, but perhaps not the way the old man had wanted him to do so. Yes, it would definitely be better if he made a few 'mistakes' and it got delayed until such a time that he was ready to bring in the troll, not to the third floor corridor however, but set loose on the school. Then he could proceed to snatch the stone and get out of there on his own time.

**End Chapter**

A/N: Fourth Chapter didn't have as much on Haven Academy yet as originally planned, but I figured to try and lay the groundwork on what else is going on as well. I do have a number of ideas of what else is coming soon, but I will expand on the Haven Academy later on.

It has been a bit of a wait I imagine but I had to take care of a number of things in between this and the last reply. I have the next chapter planned in my mind but I haven't got even a first draft of it written down yet.


	5. Chapter 5: Year Begins

Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.

**Chapter 5: Year Begins**

The tour along the Haven Academy was making Harry feel a little giddy about the prospect of studying there. The nice greenhouses held a wealth of magical plants, the potions laboratories seemed a cross between traditional cauldron-filled classrooms and modern mundane laboratories with glass containers and test-vials in their racks. The classrooms for most classes had a bit more open space than their mundane counterparts, but mostly they spoke of the fact that mundane and magical studies did not differ too much on the study-environment required for theory sessions.

He had found the boys in his group to be already familiar with one another, chatting a bit eagerly about Quiddich and both were apparent fans of the Tasmanian Devils from the sounds of it. He would have joined their conversation but they had been asked to be polite and pay attention until after the quick tour, and they had chosen to follow the politely veiled order. Nobody wanted to anger the teachers on the first day.

As they finished up with their tour, the ten of them returned to the dining room area to take a seat, finding another group of ten had already arrived there, probably one that was on tour when they arrived. Harry idly noted that like in his group, theirs appeared to have only three boys as opposed to the seven girls. He had to wonder if there would be other groups with more boys in them possibly, or if the gender ratio at this school simply rested at an angle.

His thoughts were interrupted as he sat down when the two other boys in his group smiled at him and he found himself greeted by a hand by the messy-haired, brunette boy that was smiling warmly. "Hi, I'm Ben and this guy is Elias."

"Nice to meet you two, I'm Harry Evans." He took the offered hand and shook it, then shaking the other guy's hand and smiling. The messy-haired brunette chuckled while the tanned, black-haired lad simply grinned and smoothed his hair with his hand afterwards.

"So where are you from? We are both German, though Elias' dad is from Spain originally. Half-blood, and he's new-blood. Dad's an old-blood, mom's mundane." Ben explained in a relaxed manner, earning a smile from Harry who chuckled. "I guess I'm half-blood then, mom's a new-blood, and my dad was an old-blood. I was born in Britain, though I've lived in New Zealand for a number of years now, since my dad died." He explained this in a relaxed manner.

"Have you seen the school before then?" He asked curiously, but Harry shook his head. "No, I had heard of it but you only get to visit if you are a student, related to a student, or on official business. They are pretty strict that way, being a prospective student I got what was on the letter and that's it." He shrugged but smiled, earning a nod from the other boys. They were all on the same line starting out then.

"Well it's good to meet you Harry, and now don't let Benjamin here get you in any trouble, he's a bit of a pranksters now and again." Elias grinned, while Ben had a mock-annoyed look on his face. "Oh come on, you laugh at the stuff as much as I do." The two of them chuckled before Elias smiled at Harry. "Seriously, he's a good guy but if you want to study hard I'd recommend not taking a seat near him, chaos will happen."

The three of them were hitting it off rather well, chatting and chuckling with each other in a relaxed fashion as the girls were discussing things with each other as well, and the previously arrived boys were carrying out a conversation of their own. It wasn't until Harry saw one of the witches had a black canine tail wagging from a hole at her jeans back that he remembered not all of them were human. Though he had a feel most of them had some self-transfiguration training to keep it from showing in public, as he could have sworn the tail wasn't there earlier but appeared when the girl got excited about their conversation.

"Oh, I forgot actually that not all here are just regular old witches and wizards. I am, but what about you two?" Harry asked a bit curiously, earning a look from the two others before Ben chuckled slightly. "Well I am just a wizard, I don't know about Elias he refuses to tell, though he jokes he thinks I'm a Kitsune in disguise. You know, Japanese-fox spirit of mischief and such?" He grinned slightly but rested back at ease.

"Well if you had paid attention you'd know I'm a new-blood and well my parents are both human so yes I'm a human, but I did meet with a cute gal while out shopping that was a Veela and hope you don't got anything against the non-humans." Elias seemed serious about this, but Harry shook his head and the boy seemed to relax. "Nothing like that, just curious, I can't really tell and I'm just curious."

Ben had a thoughtful look on his face at this but he shrugged briefly and grinned. "Well I think it will be fine, we'll find out when we find out. Oh look, the next group is here." He gestured at the balcony as a group of ten appeared, and saw the four teachers that had brought them in head on over to start that group's tour. It seemed they had organized this pretty well, there had not been a long period of wait for them after the tour for the next group to arrive.

Harry noted that in this group, there was only one guy in the whole group of ten and he had to admit to himself that seven guys from a group of thirty was a rather low number. If it kept up like this it might mean the boys dorm would be rather roomy compared to the girls dorm. Not that he minded too much, it could be fun anyway. He had hung out with boys and girls, he knew some of his age-mates were worried about cooties but girls could be just as mental as some of the boys and just as fun too.

"You're Harry Potter, aren't you? I've read about you." A sudden question nearby had Harry turning around to look at a bushy-haired brunette girl looking at him curiously. She blushed a bit as he looked at her, but hurriedly continued what she was saying. "You are quite famous in Britain, that's where I am from, but the books about you there were controversial since they got banned shortly after their release. I managed to get a copy into my hands, you wouldn't believe what kind of things they have attempted to claim about you."

Harry smiled a little and looked a little awkward, chuckling slightly at the time. "Well you are right but how did you recognize me? I go by Harry Evans these days though, in honor of my mother." He spoke in a relaxed tone but watching her seriously. She seemed relieved before digging into her book-bag and pulling out a small red-covered book with a fairly accurate looking picture of him.

"It was widely known that you resembled your father a great deal but with brilliant green eyes, and they apparently used a bit of magic to age a picture they already had to get an impression of what you would look like now to make a picture. You were almost identical to their estimate, so I noticed the similarities. I apologize, I didn't mean to interrupt but I got a bit excited. Though everyone thought that you would be attending Hogwarts." She paused again, and then blushed worse. "Ah, but forgive me I am forgetting my manners, bumbling on like this without even- I am Hermione Granger, a new-blood or muggleborn as they say in Britain."

"Nice to meet you." Harry smiled and then reached out to take up the book, turning it around to look at the back-cover. Reading out the description his brow rose and he blushed fiercely himself while Elias leaned in a bit to take a look as well and burst out into laughter. "Hey Harry, you didn't tell me you are a prince, a dragon slayer and a certified sorcerer already!" His laughter drew some interest while Harry groaned. "No wonder mom threw a hissy fit when she heard about the books about me! This is so embarrassing!"

==== Year Begins ====

Neville Longbottom was not enjoying his stay at Hogwarts so far. Ronald Weasley shared the same dorm as he did, keeping him up with the horrifying snoring, and polluting the air with foul stench in copious amounts. After the way he had engorged himself with food at the feast earlier Neville had to wonder if there was something seriously wrong with the boy, and the smell that made his eyes water only added to his theory.

He did not want to spend another night in the dorms with the lad, let alone seven years. He would have to invest some time into learning charms to keep the air fresh around his bed and silence his bed against all other noise than his alarm. Still, his mother and father had agreed that Neville should go to Hogwarts despite their dislike of the headmaster, but they had reminded him that if the headmaster tried anything then Neville would have their blessing and help in transferring.

Still, Neville was hopeful it would not be too bad. He had heard of the gorgeous greenhouses from his mother and was looking forward to the herbology studies. His father in turn had spoken of the fun he had been having in the past with his dorm-mates at Hogwarts and Neville wanted to experience that for himself. It was just a rotten bit of luck to have Ronald Weasley there in his year, but at the same time he wondered if it would have been worse if he had been born a few years earlier.

The Weasley twins were rather notorious with their pranks, and had already tried to slip him some spelled candy. The fact his heir-ring, invisible on his finger but still there, had been enchanted to detect anything suspicious in his meals had been a good enough warning that a bit of sleight of hand lead the twins into thinking he'd eaten the candy but it had failed to do anything, leaving them baffled and a bit annoyed.

Neville prepared his books for the first lessons into his bag, making his way to the great hall to have his breakfast, while the youngest Weasley brother was still making a lot of noise. The other dorm-mates, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas had already left and Neville figured they had a good reason too. Better to eat before Ronald Weasley showed up or there would not be enough for everyone, despite the fact that there should be enough food for everyone to eat two full plates worth.

After a brief headache of trying to navigate the ever-shifting staircases down to the ground level, Neville entered the great hall to see the people gathered about to chat while waiting for the breakfast to be set down. The main topic appeared to be the warning about the third-floor corridor, as well as a series of bets about what might be found there. The Weasley twins were already present, and appeared to be claiming to have seen a large Cerberus guarding a hatch on the floor in the room.

The mere thought gave Neville a shiver, but he also knew that was not something that should be in this school. He might have to confirm it for himself, but if that was really the case then he should find out quickly, and then get the word out. Susan Bones would have a connection to her aunt who was in the DMLE, and Neville's father would be another person that might do something about this.

Neville felt a little worried though, if the Weasley twins had gone to the third-floor corridor in the first night back, how long would it take before others had gone as well and how long would it take before someone got seriously hurt? He didn't like the sound of that. This was supposed to be a school, and though they might have some dangerous creatures living relatively near-by for the purposes of the care of magical creatures classes later on, there should not be something that was described as a very real and serious risk to all human life living within the castle in a poorly sealed room that they had already been warned about (thus only further people's curiosity to go see for themselves) by Dumbledore himself.

His decision made, Neville decided to send a letter as soon as the day's classes were over. His father could forward a question about it to Madame Bones, who could confirm it from her own niece Susan, and the situation would be cleared out soon. It seemed far smarter and responsible in his opinion.

==== Year Begins ====

Albus Dumbledore smirked cruelly while enjoying his morning breakfast, chuckling quietly while relaxing in his chair in his office. After receiving the message from his little greedy helper in Gringotts, Albus had made sure to summon his defense instructor while the note was in plain sight on his table. The news would get back to the 'late' dark lord who would make sure that Lily Potter, or Lily Evans would perish horribly and with the poor boy left an orphan once more, Albus Dumbledore would kindly offer the boy protection and shelter.

The public would love it and cheer for him, while he'd send the boy over to an abusive family and make sure he'd be beaten up to a meek, quiet state where he'd just be grateful to get away from it all. Without several years of conditioning it would not be so efficient, and he'd probably have to sign the boy up for 'Occlumency lessons with Snape' soon after to break any rebelliousness out of him quickly. Along with some loyalty potions and selective obliviations, perhaps. The boy would be a good little weapon and walk into his own doom with a smile on his lips and shouting Dumbledore's name out loud like a war cry.

The thought amused him greatly, and he found himself chuckling again while continuing his meal. The nearby Phoenix trilled loudly and the old man felt warmth through his old bones. After securing the stupid bird's loyalty it was stuck with him, and the binding was reinforced with a few rituals that made it unbreakable for the stupid bird. It would remain as a symbol of his 'light lord' reputation and provide him with a useful method of transportation as well as a certain amount of prestige holding onto it.

Finding out that Lily Evans had survived had shocked him, but he had quickly figured that it could be remedied easily enough and once the boy had come within his reach it wouldn't take long to shape him into a Dumbledore's man. Playing with young minds was so delightfully easy with the right spells and allies. He chose to stay at Hogwarts because his web of contacts made sure he could control _most _of the decisions in Wizengamot anyway, unless he had a clear power-bloc against him. His influence with the minister guaranteed him a fair share of news prior to events that took place.

Albus Dumbledore was a kingmaker because while many fools wanted to be the king, Albus Dumbledore was the Grand Vizier who actually ran the show. He had settled down in place where he could twist the young minds for his purposes and waited for his new pawn to arrive, while laying the groundwork for the boy's arrival. Of course, there was the risk that Voldemort would act before the boy was there and try and get the stone, but it was doubtful he'd figure it out how to get the stone from the Mirror at the end.

Once the first test on his soon to be weapon was over, Albus would claim the stone had been destroyed and use it to extend his lifespan a great deal. He would rule over the wizarding world and be a legendary champion of the light, having destroyed two dark wizards and trained the tragic figure of the boy-who-lived-only-to-die-the-second-time. He would use the boy to invalidate the prophecy, and then take the Potter fortune for himself, and all the glory that came with the defeat of Voldemort's new coming.

Besides, if the Potter boy insisted on hiding away from his role then Dumbledore would focus on shaping the Longbottom boy as a backup. It was not likely that Longbottom would work but only he and Harry matched the prophecy, albeit Harry's family being targeted by Voldemort himself certainly pointed towards him. Nevertheless, the test would take place, the clues were already spread out and even a dunce should be able to pick up on them. He'd even purposefully left a trail towards his work with Nicholas Flamel and if it took too long, he'd ask Hagrid to invite Harry, or Neville, over for tea and talk about things. It would slip.

Hagrid might be a useful tool but he was awful at keeping secrets. Then again, he was very handy in the role of leaking out information that he _should have kept quiet about _but ultimately ended up revealing as a slip of tongue. It was a bit irregular practice but it worked, and it provided him with a useful method of letting others know things he needed them to know.

Unfortunately the Longbottom boy had strong parents protecting him, which made him a less attractive target for Albus Dumbledore's manipulation. The boy's father was an auror captain, and his mother a consummate politician, a rather dangerous combination actually. Albus Dumbledore had attempted, through his puppet the Minister of Magic to reduce auror funding so that the inevitable return of Voldemort wouldn't cost too many _pureblood_lives, as well as to push for non-lethal methods in capturing death-eaters and punish those who would kill purebloods. It had failed mainly because the aurors refused to accept such ridiculous guide-lines and because the Longbottoms had offered their own case and then demanded everyone to consider themselves in the same situation, as well as consider what would become of their heirs if it was them the next time around.

Eager to protect their own families and assets, the Wizengamot had clamped down on those points and the auror funding had not only _not been halved_ but it had actually been _nearly doubled_ and other offices that the minister had tried to funnel more money into in order to pocket a fair share of it were now facing a slashed budget. Including the Undersecretary's own pet committees that had tried to have it legalized to kill any goblin or other magical being that gave her or any other pureblood any lip, along with trying to sneak in a clause to categorize muggleborns as creatures rather than humans, and add muggles to the list of creatures as well.

Oh, it would have given Albus Dumbledore a platform to shout about injustice and a clear goal to fight against, that would make the muggleborn love and worship him and the progressive few all stand united behind him, only to see him fail to truly change things, perhaps an amendment here and there but it was better they were all oppressed than that they became too free and saw he was playing both sides against the middle.

Now, he had to get started with the paperwork to assume guardianship of the boy as soon as his mother perished, and he'd have to make sure to claim the boy's proxy could not be trusted with him. Making sure that Lily had not updated a new personal will would also be a priority, as would be sealing any such will if one existed.

Unfortunately, New Zealand belonged to an area where Dumbledore's name had no prestige, in fact, it wasn't even known. Chinese wizards scoffed at it and laughed at his claims of being a powerful wizard, but they practiced different styles in their homeland. Beyond China, his reputation was practically non-existent or people only knew of the way he played the political games, making them wary rather than respectful of him.

==== Year Begins ====

Lily Evans drew a long breath as she looked upon the sea all around her. The flying carpet had carried her over the waves to the location she had chosen, the enchantments woven to the large carpet hiding it away from sight and hearing, and warding it to cover both itself and its passengers from the senses of magic, to better protect those riding it. She found it a better option that disillusioning one's own form and then riding a broom in the sky, and a lot more comfortable.

Standing up in her long flowing bathrobe, she watched the ocean beneath, the area was far out to the sea and no shore was within easy sight, nor had any been for quite a while. Lily wanted the location of this place to be a secret, and took care to avoid areas that would expose it all too soon. Letting the robe drop, she stepped forth in the bare form, her figure showing many magical runes on her skin in enchanted paint.

She began a ritual chant, and felt the runes start to come to life. Light shining out of the sigils, as they awoke one after another, shifting on her skin, coming to life, as she gestured her hands out at sea. She would be pushing herself for this, sacrifice a part of her health and magic to this rite temporarily, weakening herself for several days in order to wield stronger magic for this one day.

Laying the ground-work for the project needed her to take the chance, it would take too long for Harry to do this himself, and Harry still could, in time, if he so chose but right now she needed to act. The fact that the Gringotts informed her that someone had accessed her restricted file was enough to set her in motion. While she would not abandon her home on mere suspicion, she would set the fall back point, and make sure that she had the option to leave if she so chose when the time came that her old home would no longer be safe.

Pouring her magic at the ocean's floor, and the hard rock beneath the sea, she invoked the old names. The long ritual chant, the sacrifice to wield the necessary power, and the humility to commit to the task in bare form all sought to aid her in what should have been beyond her reach. Strong as she was compared to the average pureblood British wizards or witch, she was still on the good side of average world-wide but hardly exceptional in power, though her knowledge was vast.

Pouring her efforts into strengthening herself for this day, she had pushed her magic to a point that Dumbledore and Voldemort would have had trouble matching up against her given her spell-knowledge and the power she was now calling upon, but she knew she could not hold onto it for too long. The power would burn through her and ruin her if she tried to keep it rather than releasing it when the time came.

So she called upon the old names, invoking Morrigan and repeating the long chant for over an hour's time, her body aching and burning, as the bubbling surface of the water was broken as the first sight of rising stone and the burning heat of molten rock came into view. The volcanic eruption pushed forth, pouring tons and tons of stone out from the ocean floor, called towards the surface by magic. If not for her pre-laid charms, the event would have had alerted a great number of researchers around the world by now, but containing the evidence was the first step in securing the privacy of this place.

She was pushing herself in pouring all the magic her aching core would give out, and forcing her body to replenish the magic by giving of itself, leaving her body aching already as if she had run a marathon, protesting and pained but carrying forth. She had reached the starting point however, a solid, stable island awakened from the ocean floor, though one of volcanic soil and hard stone for its ground.

It was hardly a kilometer in diameter but it was the first attempt, and with a starting point the process of growing the island larger would become easier, and right now the ground there was would suffice. Letting the carpet lower, Lily reluctantly opened the bag resting on the carpet to gulp down a series of potions, feeling the rush of magic replenished in her veins though fully aware that the artificial restoration would only make her recovery that much harder. It was for emergency use normally, but she rated having a safe haven to get to at this time an emergency worth a little suffering, especially as she had a feeling it was Dumbledore who was playing with information he should not be privy to.

Working with her wand, she made the island unplotable and began to set down the ward-stones, before opening a pouch she had taken from the bag she brought with her to throw several seeds into the volcanic soil. It would take some time, but the magical nature of the newly emerged island would make sure that it would begin to change from barren rock to more habitable place soon enough.

Warding the place against unwelcome guests, and tying a magical anchor to it in the form of a custom made ward-stone, Lily set herself with a new port-key tied to it that would punch through even Voldemort's wards if need be to hide on this island in time. Of course, by her estimates she'd arrive with a severe migraine and likely a bruised and battered form from ripping through the wards and being struck by them though hardly stopped given the strength of an anchored port-key.

Lastly, she moved in to slap down a wizarding tent that she and Harry had used during the journeys previously, checking that everything was in place within it, and finally laying down on the bed within the tent to rest up. For the next two weeks, she'd be paying in pain for the work she had done on the island that day, but if the alarm wards on the Evans home were to awaken her during that time, she'd know it was worth the effort.

Anything irreplaceable was here within the tent, anything left behind at the home could be bought elsewhere. Even portraits were mere copies there. The house-elves had been all too happy to give the place such a proper cleaning not a hint of hair or a drop of blood could be found to help trace her nor Harry down.

She would return there, once the two weeks were over, to keep up appearances. If the foes thought they knew where she was staying and thought they could entrap her, they wouldn't be so well prepared for her next disappearance act or certain how to track her down once she did. Yet part of her worried she was simply being paranoid, but then reminded herself that it wasn't paranoia if someone truly was out to get you. Given the amount of effort Dumbledore had put in trying to get Harry under his thumb, it was obvious that the old man at least was after them, and Voldemort may have been vanquished, but he still had followers, and based on some whisper she had heard over the years that dark lord may not have been as dead as she had hoped.

Drifting over the borderline of being awake or being asleep, she briefly wondered how the push for Sirius' trial would come together, but they needed Albus Dumbledore gone from Britain for that to happen. Perhaps if he came to New Zealand himself they would have a chance. If he missed the meetings dealing with it, that was his mistake.

With Dumbledore, the other factions had enough power to push through the trial and they would gain a powerful ally once Sirius was brought up to speed about Albus' ruddy prophecy and the ruddy betrayal that they had all fallen for.

Pettigrew was a mere patsy for Dumbledore's greater good, and Sirius' freedom would be at risk as long as he stayed close to the old man, so warning him as soon as he was out would be vital for their efforts to save the man. Harry would get to meet his godfather, even if just so he could hear about the side of his father that Lily couldn't really convey so well.

She may have loved James, but it was his willingness to stand up to bullies and protect those weaker than him, not his prankster ways that caught the innocent as well as the guilty now and then. The pranks could be too cruel sometimes, but she had to admit they mainly preyed upon those who would bully others and commit evil acts. Humiliating the ones already doing evil was acceptable, she had finally decided, soon after Severus Snape had turned against her.

That was another name she damned to the same hell as she damned Albus Dumbledore. Part of her wished Albus was stupid enough to send Severus after her. She would relish the horror it would create if she sent the potion's master's severed head back in a box to the old bastard, informing him that the potions professor unfortunately walked right through her warning wards right into her legal protective decapitation wards keyed to the protean charm used to create a dark mark.

Despite the pain she was starting to feel in her flesh and bones, she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her lips, and the dreams of vengeance soothed her ache. The horrors that could have been a constant reminder of what she had sought to stop, the dreams of what hell Albus would have put her boy through if he got his way a powerful reminder of what she stood for. Albus could stuff his greater good up his wrinkly old crack.

**End Chapter**

A/N: A bit of work on other tales has taken place lately but I have been thinking about this story and how it progresses. I have a lot to show about Haven Academy in time, but I have a lot of other stuff going on in the story as well, and trying to figure out what to show and what to not show has its own issues. I want to show, not just tell, but at the same time I think I would not be able to write it all out in the open, and thus focus on trying to convey the main story where I can.

The students not seen at Hogwarts will emerge in time from other places, but that will be seen. Harry has met a few people that may become his friends or perhaps not. He will meet with 'extra-human' / 'non-human', whatever term would be best to use, different species soon enough and get to know a bit more about them, but there's a fair share of other things taking place as well and I am finding myself writing as it flows.

I will likely skip ahead at some points where there's little less going on, but for now, the progress has been what it has been.


End file.
